The Oakland County Child Killer — Unsolved mystery for 40 years
Four children were killed and left in public areas. The killer(s) was never found.
Victims
Mark Stebbins
Mark Stebbins was 12 years old and was from Ferndale, Michigan. He was last seen on February 15, 1976, at 1:30 pm leaving the American Legion Hall.
Mark was a seventh-grade student who weighed about 100 pounds with a height of 4 feet 8 inches. Mark’s parents were divorced and he lived with his mother and elder brother. He came from a roman-catholic family and he was described as a quiet and good student.
He last talked to his mother letting her know he was leaving the Legion hall and coming home. However, after about an hour, Mike Stebbins, the elder brother, realized Mark was taking much more time than usual to reach home. At around 11 pm, the mother contacted the Ferndale Police Department to report her missing son, after which a door-to-door search for Mark Stebbins began.
On February 19, 1976, at around 11:45 am, a businessman named Mark Boetigheimer was heading towards a drugstore located inside the New Orleans Mall. Once he reached the parking lot, something on the northeast corner caught his eye. It was a mannequin dressed in a blue jacket and jeans. When he went and took a closer look he was horrified by what he saw. It wasn't a mannequin but the lifeless body of 12-year-old, Mark Stebbins.
According to the police, on the same morning, at 9:30 am, a man walked his dog, who had a 20-foot leash attached to its neck. He walked the dog around a part of that lot, but the dog didn't sniff or find anything suspicious. So we can conclude that the body must have been dumped between 9:30 am and 11:45 am.
According to the autopsy, Mark was strangled to death and there were rope burns on his wrist, ankle, and neck. He had two lacerations to the left rear of his head. It also appeared that Mark was sexually assaulted.
Jill Robinson
Jill Robinson was 12 years old and was from Royal Oak, Michigan. She was last seen on December 22, 1976, at around 7:30 pm by a family friend.
Karol Robinson, the mother of Jill and two other daughters was divorced. Her ex-husband, Thomas Robinson lived just a few miles away. Jill and her mother fought a lot, which would lead to Jill storming out of the house in anger. This was a regular occurrence and the same happened on December 22, 1976. Karol had asked Jill to help her to make some biscuits, with Christmas on the way. When Jill refused to help her, Karol and Jill fell into an argument. At last, Karol asked Jill to leave until she decided to become a family member. Jill angrily went to her room and packed her clothes. She wore blue jeans, a shirt, an orange winter coat, and a blue knit cap.
After the fight, Jill went out of home and pedaled her cycle to the nearby hobby store, just five blocks away. The next morning two witnesses said they saw her near Donut depot on Maple road between 6 and 7 am. On December 26, 1976, at 8:45 am, Jill was found on the north of Big Beaver Road, laying on the floor fully clothed with a pool of blood surrounding her head. The killer had brought her here and shot her head at a close range with a shotgun. She had no signs of sexual abuse neither was she bound.
Kristine Mihelich
Kristine Mihelich was from Berkley, Michigan, and was 10 years old. She was last seen on January 2, 1977. She was a fifth-grader in Pattengill elementary school where her friends described her as a shy and quiet girl. Her parents were divorced and she lived with her mother. Kristine had gone to a 7/11 store to buy a magazine at around three pm. An hour had passed and with no sign of Kristine, her mother decided to inform the police.
Kristine’s disappearance was just a few days after Jill Robinson’s body was found. The police were desperate to find Kristine alive which lead them to put out large groups of policemen on search. Even though they got many leads none lead to Kristine. After 19 days, on January 21, 1977, Kristine was found in a snowbank along Bruce road in Franklin Village, Michigan.
She was fully clothed and an autopsy revealed that she had died due to strangulation and had died within 24 hours of her body being discovered. This revealed that she had been kept alive for 18 days. The autopsy also revealed she was not sexually assaulted.
This is when the police realized that all the cases are connected.
Timothy King
Timothy King was from Birmingham, Michigan, and was 11 years old. He was last seen on March 6, 1977. Timothy lived with his parents, an elder sister, and two elder brothers. He was described as an outgoing and well-liked boy. Timothy borrowed 30 cents from his elder sister and went to the pharmacy that was just three blocks away with his skateboard and football. But, he never returned.
That night Timothy had asked his sister Catherine to keep the door open so that he could easily come in. Catherine had gone out, the parents were out at a restaurant and the two brothers had gone out for some work. When Timothy’s parents came back around 9:15 pm, the door was left ajar with no sign of Timothy. The next morning the police of Oakland along with 100 lawmen, special forces, and volunteers were engaged in door-to-door searches and interviewing Timothy’s classmates. With already six dead children and Timothy being the seventh victim, the police were frantically searching for Timothy. Timothy was last seen by a clerk, Amy Walters, who sold him candy. According to Amy, he had left through the back door into the parking lot around 8:30 pm. Another woman told the police that she saw Timothy talking to a man by a blue AMC gremlin with a hockey stick-like white stripe.
The police started searching all the gremlins as described by the woman in search of Timothy but there was no lead. Police said that the man described by witnesses was between 25 and 35 years old, white, with dark brown hair cut in a shaggy style. He had muttonchop sideburns and a husky build. They also suspected that Timothy was abducted by a man or possibly more than one. This person or people might be responsible for the other six murders. The police also said that they might be sophisticated, intelligent, and educated.
Timothy’s family plead a lot to Timothy’s abductor through TV to send him back, but he was never returned to them. On March 23, 1977, on a dirt road in Livonia, just a few meters away from a busy intersection, a motorist found Timothy’s dead body. He was wearing the same clothes he was wearing when last seen and a few meters away lying, was his skateboard.
According to autopsy results, Timothy was well cared for and fed his favorite food before strangulating him. When held captive he was sexually assaulted.
Other possible victims
Cynthia Cadieux
Cynthia was 16 years old and she lived in Roseville, Michigan. She was last seen on January 15, 1976, at 8:15 pm. She lived with her mother and stepfather. The Cadieux was a blue-collar family. She studied at the Roseville High School which was located within walking distance. On January 15, 1976, Rose, the best friend of Cynthia offered her a ride despite her home being within walking distance. But Cynthia refused the offer to ride and decided to walk home, which became her fatal mistake.
Actually, Cynthia had decided to walk to her friend’s home, which was in fact a planned activity. The parents had assumed that Cynthia was staying in her friend’s home for the night. But she had planned to return home that night. She left her friend’s home at eight pm. Her naked body was found the next morning at 1:05 am, at Bloomfield Township.
According to autopsy results, her skull was crushed by a blunt instrument. The police also revealed that she was raped and sodomized by possibly multiple people.
Sheila Srock
Sheila Srock was from Birmingham, Michigan and she was 14 years old. She was last seen on January 19, 1976, at 8:20 pm. A neighbor who was clearing up the snow on the roof of his home saw the horror that happened to Sheila. She was babysitting her brother’s baby upstairs when a robber was stealing in the neighborhood. He tried ringing the doorbell of Sheila’s house but when no one opened he entered by unlocking the door. When he went upstairs and found Sheila, he was upset that she had seen him. So at gunpoint, he made her remove her clothes, and raped and sodomized her, ultimately killing her. The guy who saw all this through the window of her house was horrified. Since mobiles weren't available during 1976, he couldn't immediately call for help and his being on the roof became a disadvantage.
The assailant was described as a thin, white man between 18 and 25 years old, who stood about 6 feet tall. He had a prominent nose and a pointed chin, according to witnesses. The attacker’s car also was identified. He drove away in a 1967 Cadillac.
In March 1976, Oliver Rhodes confessed to killing Sheila and received a life sentence in prison.
Psychological profile of the suspect
The Oakland County police released the profile on March 16, 1977.
- Male, between 20 and 30 years
- Above-average education and intelligence
- Caucasian
- Capable enough to keep a child locked for at least 18 days
- Homosexual and mental issues
- Fanatically clean and smart
- No substance abuse
- Single dwelling
- Dec-January — Vacation time
- Prior contact with police
- White collar job — 9 to 5 schedule
- Visiting psychiatrist
- Wants the bodies to be found
- Southern Oakland County
There were a few suspects that the police investigated.
- Christopher Busch, a convicted pedophile — DNA didn't match the physical evidence
- James Vincent Gunnels — mitochondrial DNA matched with the hair found on Kristine’s body. (Mitochondrial DNA match leads us to the conclusion that the hair belongs to the perpetrator or perpetrator relative on the mother's side). Even though he failed in the polygraph test, his story, that he was not the one, was believable according to the family.
In my opinion, the cases of Cynthia and Sheila don't seem to be related to the previous four cases. The modus operandi of the perpetrator in the previous four cases was much different. The perpetrator had only sexually assaulted boys and the age range was much lower. The victims were always clothed and the perpetrator killed them by strangulation. But the police have not proven that these cases are unrelated.
References
