Unsolved

Earlier this year, the Mason County Sheriff's Office announced they were tracking down new leads in the 1993 killing of Scottville teen Melissa Simmons. She was last seen alive in June of 1993. Detectives have worked ever since to try and find who may have killed Melissa. Recently, Mason County Sheriff Kim Cole asked two new investigators to look at the case and it didn’t take them long to find something that pointed them towards new leads. The decision was also made to exhume Melissa’s body. Sheriff Cole now believes investigators may be closer than they’ve ever been to figuring out who took the life of the girl who will be forever fifteen in the hearts and minds of those who knew and loved her.

Terry Moore and Mark Canter, two of the "Tobias five" who were convicted and later exonerated for the 1986 death of Jerry Tobias, are now seeking answers to the case 39 years later. The Tobias case was based largely on the testimony of Debra Parmentier, who later admitted to perjury, and the convictions of the 'Tobias Five' were overturned. Moore and Canter are hoping to find out what happened to Tobias.

The murder of JonBenet Ramsey in 1996 drew international attention, and part of that intense media focus was on the Ramsey's Northern Michigan getaway in Charlevoix.

The family of Cassandra Durham has been trying to figure out what happened to her ever since she was last seen in Baltimore back in July 1987. There’s strong evidence she found her way to Northern Michigan, but where she went after that is a mystery.

This year marked 45 years since Diane Chorba disappeared from her home in Lake County.

In May 2010, Kristin Spires was at a party on Woodward Avenue in Big Rapids. It was the last time anyone saw her alive.

Margie Ranshaw’s daughter Ashley was just two months old in May of 1987 when her mom left their home to pick up some milk. Her vehicle was later found, but Margie hasn’t been seen since.

The mystery of who killed Francis Lacey is one that has both baffled and fascinated the Mackinac Island for decades. It's the island’s only unsolved murder.

Grand Traverse County Deputies recently began a renewed push to solve a 1989 cold case. The case of Linda Meteer is one that’s never been far from the minds of detectives in the county. On April 19, 1989, 41-year-old Linda Meteer was spending the night out with friends in Grand Traverse County. She disappeared, and her body wouldn’t be discovered until more than a week later.

In this edition of Unsolved, we take a look at the case of Jacob Cabinaw, who went missing from Grand Traverse County.

Unsolved looks in the case of David Gionet

Midland County deputies have spent more than three decades trying to solve a deadly hit-and-run. Gregory McRoberts was killed while riding his bike on Dec. 12, 1991. 9&10's David Lyden takes us through this long, winding case that continues to this very day.

Marvel Anderson was just 16-years-old when she was last seen in St. Ignace, late in the afternoon on May 2, 1994. Her body would not be found until September of the following year in a remote part of Mackinac County, and soon her death would be ruled as a homicide. David Lyden and videographer Josh Monroe spoke with detectives and those who knew Marvel about the long search for answers.

It's been 57 years since hunters made a discovery in the woods of Chippewa County when they came across a man's body near Trout Lake. However, the identity of the man remains a mystery more than half a century later. David Lyden and videographer Josh Monroe spoke to detectives who remain hopeful that someone can help identify Trout Lake's John Doe.

This month marks 10 years since someone hit and killed Kelly Boyce Hurlbert in Traverse City. Police have reviewed thousands of tips, but still haven't been able to make an arrest. 9&10's David Lyden and videographer Josh Monroe take an in-depth look at the case in this edition of Unsolved.

It's been almost 35 years since this Brenda Martinez disappeared while walking to use a pay phone. She vanished just before Christmas in 1988, and her body was found just after the new year in a park just outside of Flint. Brenda's death would be ruled a homicide and her 6-year-old daughter Stephanie, was sent to live with relatives in Northern Michigan. Now, more than three decades later, she hasn't given up trying to figure out what happened to her mom. David Lyden and videographer Josh Monroe spoke with Brenda’s daughter for the latest episode of Unsolved.

Have you ever wanted to help solve a cold case? Some students at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo are doing just that. They’ve already helped Michigan State Police solve one case and are pouring through a fresh round of cases and evidence this semester. These student's aren't doing suspect interrogations but they are helping State Police with what can be one of the most time consuming parts of a cold case. “So at first we started scanning documents from cold cases that detectives have given us to do. Then we make that into a collapse pdf file for detectives to look through on their phone to make it easier for them to go through big binders full of just paperwork of all of these cases,” said one student. Condensing all that material down from boxes and boxes of files to a searchable PDF saves detectives countless time and energy when chasing down potential new leads, and sometimes those leads or ideas on where to turn next come straight from the students. All that meticulous work paid off in 2022 when State Police announced the arrest of a man tied to a west Michigan cold case. “I know it makes it sound really good, doesn't it? I love this. We have 100% success. I keep telling everybody that real quick,” said Dr. Ashlyn Kuersten who leads the program. “I think for me the kind of biggest moment was attending Patrick Gilham sentencing. I was involved with the Roxanne Wood case, and getting to go down there and see that moment of justice and closure and get to meet her family really just drove home how big and important the work we're doing here is,” said Student McKenzie Stomman And all that 'in classroom' experience is translating to invaluable 'real world' experience. “These students really are the leaders of tomorrow. They are the most educated people that we have in American society. And so regardless of what they decide to do, how cool is that that they have seen in detail what a police file looks like? They have seen in detail what good policing looks like? I think that's really important considering many of the controversies that are going on in American society today,” said Dr. Kuersten.

Unsolved is a true crime podcast series from 9&10 News. Each month, David Lyden will dive into an unsolved crime in northern Michigan. t’s been 53 years since two teenage girls disappeared in Oscoda, Michigan. And the Halloween mystery has baffled investigators ever since. Mary Buehrle was just 8 years old in 1969, but has plenty of fond memories of her older sister Pamela. Mary says the afternoon of Halloween 1969, Pamela and fellow Oscoda High School student Patricia Spender decided to skip part of the day before heading to the school’s homecoming game and later a party with friends. Mary spent the night trick-or-treating. But as the night went on Pamela still wasn’t home and that’s when Mary and Pamela’s mom started to worry. By all accounts, that was the last time anyone saw either of the girls. And as the days, weeks and months passed, there was still no sign of Pamela or Patricia. There’ve been occasional leads, tips and rumors about what happened that night but none have led to an answer. Mary and her husband still make trips to Oscoda, hanging flyers around town. In hopes one day a break in the case finally comes, after more than a half century of waiting. If you have any information about disappearances of Pamela Hobley or Patricia Spencer, please call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST or the Oscoda Police Department at (989) 739-9113.

Unsolved is a true crime podcast series from 9&10 News. Each month, David Lyden will dive into an unsolved crime in northern Michigan. We told you back in July how Mackinac County Deputies finally solved a 25 year old cold case using forensic genetic genealogy. The case of Baby Garnet is one that's haunted investigators since 1997. Investigators immediately went to work gathering what evidence they could. Reports from 1997 say an autopsy showed they baby girl was practically a newborn. In the meantime, the close knit community surrounding the campground named the baby 'Baby Garent' and gave her a proper burial at the local cemetery. Detectives chased down what leads they had, but were never able to make an arrest. Fast forward several more years, and modern day technology entered the picture.

Unsolved is a true crime podcast series from 9&10 News. Each month, David Lyden will dive into an unsolved crime in northern Michigan. The disappearance of Native American women in the U.S. is a crisis that's been ignored for decades. Native American women are killed and go missing at 10 times the national average, but only 2%of these cases receive federal attention and less than 5% get some kind of national media attention. But tribes here in northern Michigan are working to change that. The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians recently held red shirt day in an effort to draw attention to the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women. The issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women has plagued Native American tribes for years, but the hope is events like this help bring about much needed change.