Amy Mihaljevic murder case (essential dates):
October 27, 1989 Amy Mihaljevic is kidnapped from the Bay Square Shopping Center in Bay Village, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland.
October 28, 1989 Phil Torsney, part of the FBI’s ‘reactive squad’, arrives to help the police in Bay Village. A sketch of a suspect is released to the public
October 29, 1989 Amy Center is set-up at City Hall where volunteers from town print up fliers, take calls, etc.
November 1, 1989 Inside Edition broadcasts a program about missing Minnesota boy Jacob Wetterling
November 3, 1989 FBI produces new composite sketches of man seen with Amy
November 8, 1989 News reaches FBI that a man resembling the sketch, James Vachuska, was arrested November 6 in Louisiana for two instances of sexual assault on minors.
December 3, 1989 News reporters go down to the plaza, talk to locals, interview authorities. News breaks of an incident in Northfield, Ohio. The day before, two young girls had been approached by a man in a van.
December 11, 1989 Amy’s birthday
December 11 or 12, 1989 Mark and Margaret speak to the press
January 16, 1990 Margaret appears on Sally Jessy Raphael where she delivers a moving tribute to her missing daughter.
January 31, 1990 Shortly after the Sally Jessy show is broadcast, a viewer contacts the police. She says that she was at a Tulsa, Oklahoma shopping mall just before Christmas, and a young girl sat down next to her. The girl told the woman that her name was Amy, and that she was eleven years old. The news of the sighting catches public attention through TV news reports and newspaper articles.
February 8, 1990 Amy’s body is found in a field, close to the road, off County Road 1181, Ruggles Township in rural Ashland County, Ohio
February 12, 1990 Four days after Amy’s body is found, a memorial service is held in her honor. Hundreds turn up to the Bay Presbyterian Church.
July 7, 1990 Suspect arrested in traffic stop.
October 27th, 1990 First anniversary of Amy’s disappearance.
December 4, 1990 A new sketch of the suspect is released.
October 27th, 1992. Three years to the day since Amy went missing: there’s another abduction. 11 year old Shauna Howe has disappears as she walks home from a Halloween party in Oil City, PA. Drive 160 miles on State Route 224 from Oil City – you end up in Ashland County
September 29, 2001 Margaret Mihaljevic McNulty dies
October 13, 2002 Richard Alan Folbert stands up in church and yells People know me as Satan! I killed Amy Mihaljevic
April 15, 2011 Joe Kopp’s body is found. Shortly thereafter his landlord Frank Dienes, Jr. is arrested
04/29/2011-The Fox 8 I-Team has confirmed that Bay Village police are looking into the possibility of connections between Frank Dienes and the 1989 kidnapping.
05/12/2011-Police confirm they are pursuing several leads regarding possible connections between Frank Dienes and the 1989 murder of 11-year-old, Amy Mihaljevic. The I-Team first broke the story of a possible link two weeks ago.
05/15/2011-At a midnight candlelight vigil on Friday night, friends remembered Joe Kopp – and wondered if the man charged with his murder was involved in the 1989 killing of 11 year-old Amy Mihaljevic in Bay Village. Two weeks ago, the FOX 8 I-Team broke the story that Bay Village police are looking at possible links between the man charged in Kopp’s death, Frank Dienes, and the Mihaljevic murder.
05/16/2011-James Ewinger, Plain Dealer Reporter SECTION: METRO; Pg. B6 06/02/2011-FOX – 8 WJW (Cleveland, Ohio)/Common Pleas Judge John Russo ordered murder suspect Frank Dienes back into custody Thursday so experts could more closely evaluate whether he is competent to stand trial.
09/30/11-FOX – 8 WJW (Cleveland, Ohio). No Plea Deal for Seven Hills Resident Accused of Killing Homeless Man * *Lots of details in story
11/11/11-FOX – 8 WJW (Cleveland, Ohio)-Bay Village PD Seeks Interview With Dienes About Mihaljevic Case
November 4, 2013 FBI Investigator Phil Torsney returns from retirement to work on the case, which he had originally been assigned to after she was murdered. Torsney is well known for aiding in the capture of Whitey Bulger, who was a long-time member of the FBI Top Ten Most Wanted.[11]
December 24, 2006 It’s reported that Bay Village police collect DNA samples from several potential suspects in the case
March 14, 2014 The FBI announce that a $25,000 reward is available to anyone who can provide information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the killer of Mihaljevic.
May 19, 2015 We have news coverage from another source from this date.
June 23, 2016 Police hold a press conference bringing in new evidence (a homemade curtain found near the body)