Was Amy Mihaljevic’s killer finally caught? Explained

The case of Amy Mihaljevic is explored in NBC's upcoming Dateline episode. The episode, titled What Happened to Amy?, originally premiered on September 17, 2021, and is scheduled to re-air tonight on the NBC network.

The Dateline episode follows the mysterious disappearance and murder of a 10-year-old girl called Amy Mihaljevic from the Bay Village area in Ohio. This triggered a nationwide investigation to search for answers by retracing Amy's steps from the day of the kidnapping.

However, despite a decades-long search for Amy's killer, he was never found. Amy's father and brother continue to hope that they will one day have some answers.

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Amy Mihaljevic was abducted, and her body was discovered four months later

On October 27, 1989, 10-year-old Amy Mihaljevic disappeared after school, prompting a search that drew national attention. According to multiple reports, including those from NBC and Oxygen, Amy was last seen at the Bay Village Square shopping plaza in Ohio, where she had reportedly gone to meet an unknown man.

As reported by Oxygen on August 30, 2023, Amy had received a phone call from a man who claimed to know Amy's mother, Margaret Mihaljevic, and told Amy that her mother had received a job promotion. He suggested that he could help Amy buy a gift for her mother as a surprise. Amy had agreed to it and confided in a friend during lunch at school that she planned to meet the man that afternoon at the plaza.

Eyewitness accounts from the shopping center, who saw Amy with the man, described the suspect as a white male between the ages of 30 and 35. The case drew the attention of the media and the community, with Amy's parents, Margaret and Mark Mihaljevic, making emotional public appeals for her safe return. Despite exhaustive search efforts, Amy could not be found.

Four months later, on February 8, 1990, Amy's body was discovered in a remote field in Ashland County, approximately 50 miles from where she was last seen, according to Oxygen.

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Clues in the case

Investigators concluded that the man who lured Amy Mihaljevic had access to personal information about her family. Moreover, upon investigations, law enforcement discovered at least two other girls in nearby towns who had received similar phone calls around the same time.

In one case, the girl recounted to the police that the caller had also claimed to have known her mother and invited her to go shopping to buy a gift for her mother's job promotion. However, when the caller overheard her discussing the invitation with her brother, he abruptly ended the conversation.

As per an NBC article on September 22, 2021, another significant detail that emerged in the investigation was that Amy had called her mother on the day of her disappearance while in the company of the abductor. However, her mother believed Amy was calling from home as she usually did. According to investigators, this move allowed Amy's abductor to gain her trust.

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Did the police manage to find Amy Mihaljevic’s killer?

Despite an extensive investigation spanning decades, the abduction and murder of Amy Mihaljevic remains unsolved. Authorities have publicly released several key pieces of evidence in the hope that someone might come forward with any leads.

Oxygen reported that some of the evidence recovered from the crime scene was a distinctive green curtain, which investigators believe may have been used to wrap her body. Other items included a pair of earrings that Amy was wearing at the time of her disappearance and a specific binder she was known to have carried that day.

In 2016, forensic analysis revealed the presence of dog hairs on the green curtain. DNA testing later confirmed the hairs belonged to Amy's pet dog, Jake—supporting the theory that the curtain had been in Amy's home and was likely used by the perpetrator during or after the crime. While the finding provided investigators with new insight, it ultimately failed to lead to the identification of a suspect.

The Bay Village Police Department continues to pursue Amy's case. They have even offered a $50,000 reward for any information that would lead to the arrest and conviction of the suspect. Those with any information are urged to contact Bay Village Police at (440) 871-1234.

Amy's father, Mark Mihaljevic, and her brother, Jason, continue to advocate for justice on behalf of Amy Mihaljevic. Amy's mother, Margaret Mihaljevic, passed away in 2001.

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Catch the case of Amy Mihaljevic on Dateline tonight.

Edited by Maithreyi S