BAY VILLAGE, Ohio – In an investigation that has been going on for 31 years, physical evidence, witness statements and suspicious statements are among the new developments found in court documents recently filed in connection with the kidnapping and murder case of Amy Mihaljevic.
The 10-year-old girl from Bay Village was kidnapped from the Bay Village Square shopping center on October 27, 1989.
Police said they believed someone called Mihaljevic and convinced her to meet up at a nearby shopping center so they could buy a gift together for her mother, who had just gotten a promotion from Trading Times Magazine.
Mihaljevic’s body was discovered in a rural farm in Ashland County on February 8, 1990.
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Investigators said she was stabbed to death.
For over 31 years, her killer has remained a mystery.
RELATED: Amy Mihaljevic was kidnapped in 1989 and the police are still looking for her murderer
But 5 On Your Side Investigators discovered court documents last fall showing that in January 2019, a woman came forward and identified her ex-boyfriend as a suspect in Mihaljevic’s murder.
Since he was not charged, we chose not to identify the now 64-year-old man.
If you have information about the murder of Amy Mihaljevic, the FBI is offering a reward of up to $ 25,000 for tips leading to the arrest and conviction on her death. Anyone with information is asked for 1-800-CALL-FBI.
The top
According to an affidavit from a Bay Village detective, at the time of Amy’s disappearance, the woman told police that the man and his ex-girlfriend lived less than a mile from the mall where Mihaljevic was last seen alive talking to a stranger. Man.
In the affidavit, police said the man was working in Bay Village at the time and living with family there, including a niece in the same class as Mahaljevic.
Court records show that police also said the woman had told investigators that the man did not return the night Amy was kidnapped.
Police said the woman “indicated it didn’t look like it [the man] to disappear and not come home overnight. “
Investigators said the woman stated that her ex-boyfriend called her around 10 p.m. on the night of the kidnapping to ask if she was aware of the coverage of Amy’s disappearance.
A detective also said the woman had told him she believed she was traveling to Ashland County with her ex-boyfriend “on one or more trips.”
Investigators say that the man’s appearance in late 1989 was “consistent with one of two composites of the main suspect obtained through witness interviews.”
In the affidavit, investigators said in May 2020 that two witnesses who saw Mihaljevic talking to a man at the mall on the day of her abduction chose the photo of the man in question from the photo frames as the person they remembered seeing Amy. Mihaljevic after the day she was last seen alive.
The car
Police said gold fibers were found on Amy’s clothing after her body was discovered in Ashland County.
The detective told a judge in Cuyahoga County that the man in question drove a gold Oldsmobile with a brown interior in 1989 and 1990.
According to court documents, an FBI agent noted that a gold Oldsmobile registered in the man’s name was driving through an intersection near where Mihaljevic’s body was dumped on the day she was discovered.
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A Bay Village detective wrote: “The investigation has failed to show any reason (s) why [the man] should have been near Amy Mihaljevic’s body repair location on 2/8/1990. “
The interviews
In November 2019, just days after the 30th anniversary of Amy’s kidnapping, the detective wrote that the man in question walked into Bay Village police and spoke to detectives over the course of two days.
In an affidavit, the detective said the man was “making very suspicious statements.”
According to court records, these included that 1989 and 1990 were a “dark period” in his life, and that the man indicated that he may have met Amy’s mother, Margaret, at a bar.
The detective wrote that when asked if he had ever called Amy Mihaljevic prior to her kidnapping, the man replied, “I could have” and that “it could have been the wrong number.”
The police said when they asked the man if Amy was in his car he said “I don’t believe it” but when they asked again if it was possible they said the man said “Okay, but I don’t know what the situation would have been. “
The detective said the man agreed that it was possible for his DNA to be on a curtain near Amy’s body, but said, “I didn’t put it there,” and that his DNA would be on Amy’s body “if someone plant it on her. “
Investigators said the man agreed to a DNA swab and polygraph test.
Police said the results of the polygraph test “indicated deception”.
The detective also told a judge that the man did not show up the next day as scheduled to sign paperwork that allowed police to search a storage area.
According to court records, the police have obtained a warrant and searched the storage units where “agents seized evidence”.
There is no mention of what the police took.
Five On Your Side Investigators tried to call and text the man in question to ask about the case. He never responded.
Police said he is currently homeless and lives in his car.
The man’s ex-girlfriend addressed questions about the case to detectives, who declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Instead, the Bay Village Police Department issued a statement saying that the police are still diligently addressing this case.
Watch the ongoing coverage of the Amy Mihaljevic case here.