The Oakland County Child Killers
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All murders are tragic, but the murder of a child is particularly heartbreaking especially when there is no justice served. We just finished up a 3 episode podcast on the Oakland County child murders and we will be going even deeper into this case in the near future. We believe that what is known is just a very small part of a bigger, even more nefarious scenario. We also had the honor of interviewing J. Reuben Appelman. He wrote a book about these murders called The Kill Jar: Obsession, Descent, and a Hunt for Detroit’s Most Notorious Serial Killer. It’s an excellent read and our Book of the Month. He is also the executive producer of the ID show Children of the Snow and his investigation into these murders was the starting point for the show.
Back in 1976 and 1977, the bodies of 4 children were found neatly and carefully placed in the snow. Twelve year old Mark Stebbins, disappeared on 2/15/76 and was found 4 days later. His body was clean, his nails were clipped and his clothing had been washed and pressed. He was curled up in a sleeping position. Later that year, on December 22nd, another 12 year old, Jill Robinson had an argument with her mother. She left the family home and when she didn’t come back inside her mother called the police to report her missing. Police thought she was a runaway but on December 26th, 1976, Jill’s body was found along the highway about 20 minutes away from her house with a gunshot wound to her face. Her body was also placed carefully and her clothing has also been washed and pressed.
Just one week later, on January 2nd, 1977, Kristine Mihelich went missing. Kristine was just 10 years old and she was abducted while she walked to the local 7–11. Her body was found close to home by a postal worker. Then on March 16th, 1977, eleven year old Timmy King disappeared and he suffered the same tragic fate as Mark, Kristine and Jill. We go into thorough detail about each of the victims on the podcast and those details are horrifying. These young, innocent children suffered in ways that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. These cases will break your heart and make you so angry when you realize that to this day, nobody has been charged with the murders of these innocent and beautiful young children.
When they saw all the similarities between the children’s murders and the way their bodies were found, the Michigan State Police put together a task force. The task force’s job was to investigate these murders and the public was warned of a possible serial killer in Oakland County. Over 18,000 tips came in and during the investigations a multi-state child pornography ring was discovered on North Fox Island in Lake Michigan. (We go a lot deeper into North Fox Island in episode 3 of our podcast.) Meanwhile, the task force didn’t make much progress in the investigation of the murders of Mark, Jill, Kristine and Timmy. At the end of 1978, the task force was disbanded and the State Police took over.
While researching , it was clear that this could be a lot deeper than just a sicko who was killing kids. Barry King, Timmy’s dad, believes that there are up to 15 different people that are involved in the murders. Several suspects and people of interest were looked into and there were some strange developments during the investigations. One of the task force members, a psychiatrist, received a letter from someone calling themselves Allen, who claimed that the Oakland County child killer was a man named Frank. Allen made plans to meet with the doctor and give him photographic proof, but he never showed up and was never heard from again. At one point, the Killer Clown, serial killer John Wayne Gacy was even looked into because he was believed to be in Michigan at the time of the murders, but his DNA didn’t match the DNA found on the bodies.
There was a group of known and suspected child molesters that were somehow involved. One of them, Archibald Sloan, was the owner of a Pontiac Bonneville at the time of the murders. Hairs found in the Bonneville matched hairs on the victims bodies but those hairs didn’t come from Archibald. We talk more about those hairs in the podcast and there’s a pretty interesting theory that goes along with them. Then, there’s Ted Lamborgine, who was facing 15 counts of sex related charges involving young boys. He said he had nothing to do with the Oakland County child killings but when asked to take a polygraph about the murders in exchange for a plea deal or reduced charges, he refused and instead, he chose to plead guilty to all 15 counts that he was charged with. Ummm, guilty much??
There have been allegations of mistakes made and information being kept from the victims’ families. There has been a lawsuit filed by a victim’s family against one of the suspects and attempts have been made to have the Michigan Police release previously sealed information about the other members of this ring of pedophiles. There still hasn’t been any justice for the victims of the Oakland County child killer, or their families. We started researching these murders with plans to do a 3 episode series and those plans changed pretty fast. There’s more to this story, including the kids that were potential victims but somehow got away or escaped their fate. Those kids are now adults who have a chilling story to tell. We are going to go as deep into these cases as we can and bring you more information, updates and interviews. So, be sure to head over to the podcast to listen to the first 3 episodes.
For more true crime check out our Youtube channel, Murder By Design. Check out our cool Good Wives merch including our #LoveWins and #LeadWithLove campaign merchandise. A percentage of the profits from the sale of these items will go to a scholarship fund set up in the name of peace with the help of the Founder of The Cold Case Research Institute, Sheryl McCollum.
Originally published at https://madgingerentertainment.com.
