Amy Mihaljevic

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Amy Mihaljevic
Amy Mihaljevic
Born	December 11, 1978 Ohio, USA
Died	October, 1989

Amy Renee Mihaljevic (December 11, 1978–October 1989) was kidnapped and murdered in Ohio in 1989. Her murder case remains unsolved.

1 Case history
2 Popular suspects
3 Death of Margaret McNulty
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Case history

On October 27, 1989, ten-year-old Amy Mihaljevic was kidnapped from the Bay Square Shopping Center in Bay Village, Ohio. The abductor had contacted Mihaljevic by telephone and arranged to meet her on the pretext of buying a gift for her mother, who had recently been promoted. On February 8, 1990, the girl's body was found in a field off of County Road 1181, Ruggles Township in rural Ashland County, Ohio.

Evidence found at the scene of the crime suggests that Mihaljevic's body had not been in the field for very long, perhaps no longer than a few hours before being discovered by a morning jogger. Though she had been dead for months, her body had been previously stored someplace relatively cool, as the rate of decomposition was slow. Based on findings by the Cuyahoga County coroner, Mihaljevic's last meal was some sort of soy substance, possibly fake chicken product or Chinese take-out. Other evidence includes the presence of yellow/gold colored fibers on her body. It appears her killer also took several souvenirs including the girls horse-riding boots, her denim backpack, a binder with "Buick, Best in Class" written on the front clasp, and turquoise earings in the shape of horse heads.

The Bay Village Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducted an extensive investigation into her disappearance and murder. The case generated thousands of leads. Dozens of suspects were asked to take lie detector tests. But no one has ever been charged with the crime. Law enforcement continues to aggressively investigate this crime and is seeking any information that may lead to the identification, arrest and prosecution of the killer.

In 2005, Cleveland journalist James Renner reexamined this cold case in an article for Cleveland Scene. He requested that anyone with information related to this case contact him or the authorities at Assisting Missing Youth (A.M.Y).

In October, 2006, publisher Gray & Co. released a book about Renner's investigation into the murder called Amy: My Search for Her Killer, ISBN 9781598510195. More comprehensive than the article for Cleveland Scene, the book revealed new suspects and clues which the police and FBI had kept secret for 17 years.

In November, 2006, it was revealed that several other young girls received phone calls in the weeks before Mihaljevic's abduction from a man who said he worked with their mothers and wanted to take them shopping for a present. In 1989, these other girls lived in North Olmsted, a suburb near Bay Village. Some had unlisted phone numbers. Police are taking a careful look at how these girls and Mihaljevic are connected.

In December, 2006, Bay Village police collected DNA samples from several potential suspects in the case.

[edit] Popular suspects

[edit] Harold "H.B." Bound

Harold Bound lived at the Holly Hill horse stables where Mihaljevic took weekly lessons. He served in Air Force Intelligence during the early 1980s and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder upon returning home. He had no alibi the afternoon of Mihaljevic's abduction, was familiar with the area in Ashland County where her body was later found, and was seen returning home late that night in the farm's pick-up truck. During the weeks following Mihaljevic's disappearance, FBI agents searched Bound's apartment and subjected him to a series of lie-detector tests. During one test, Bound was given the truth serum, sodium pentathol. Eventually, he had himself committed to a Veteran's Hospital in the Cleveland area, to avoid further questioning. He has admitted to watching Mihaljevic sometimes from his apartment window.

According to an article that appeared in "Cleveland Scene", FBI and Bay Village police have confirmed that Bound was an interesting suspect at the beginning of the investigation, but no longer believe that he committed the crime.

[edit] Brad Harvey

In a book, author James Renner used this pseudonym for a suspect in Amy's murder. Harvey worked on the house next door to the Mihaljevic's residence shortly before Amy disappeared and is known around Bay Village as the town playboy. Law enforcement officials have said he is on their "short list" of suspects.

The Bay Village police department recently assigned a detective to investigate Harvey's possible connection to Amy's murder.

In January, 2007, Harvey retained Cleveland lawyer Mark DeVan to represent him in any future criminal charges related to the Amy Mihaljevic investigation.

[edit] Alvin Matlock

After Mihaljevic's body was found in Ashland County, friends of Alvin Matlock said he bragged about the murder and would drive out to the field and make fun of the girl's family. A few months after Mihaljevic's body was found, Matlock disappeared. He's rumored to be residing in Tucson, Arizona. The Ashland County Sheriff's Office currently has a warrant out for his arrest, related to a theft charge, and would like to question him about this case.

Roger Martin, a detective for the Ashland County Sheriff's Office, has said he believes Matlock was the sort who would brag about a crime he didn't commit.

[edit] Billy Strunak

Billy Strunak worked at the community volunteer center that was set up in the Bay Village town hall to organize the citizen effort to find Mihaljevic. He donated reams of paper for Mihaljevic's missing poster. The paper was later discovered to have been stolen from B.J.'s Wholesale Club where he worked. He was asked to leave the volunteer center after police discovered that Strunak had a prior conviction for stalking a teenage waitress in a nearby town.

Strunak was 35 years-old at the time of Mihaljevic's abduction and lived in Fairview Park, a suburb near Bay Village.

A woman who worked at the volunteer center later claimed she was abducted by Strunak outside the Mihaljevic home in December of 1989. This woman claimed Strunak put her in a van, drove her someplace secluded, raped her, then let her go. This woman gave birth to Strunak's child in the summer of 1990. Amy's mother, Margaret, had organized a party there to thank volunteers for not giving up on the search.

FBI agents frequently questioned Strunak about his possible involvement in Mihaljevic's abduction. A short time after Mihaljevic's body was discovered in Ashland County, Strunak committed suicide by mixing dry gas in a can of coke and drinking enough of the poison to destroy his digestive system. He slipped into a coma and died February 21, 1990. Authorities believe his family cleaned out his apartment before police could search it after his death.

Retired FBI agent Robert K. Ressler outed Strunak as a suspect in his book on serial killers, Whoever Fights Monsters.

[edit] Death of Margaret McNulty

Mihaljevic's mother, Margaret McNulty, was found dead in her home in Las Vegas on Saturday, September 29, 2001. According to a 2001 report by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, McNulty's cause of death was unknown. However, her mother stated McNulty suffered from lupus.^[1]