Who Killed Amy Mihaljevic? 30 YEARS- PART 1 of 6

This week’s sponsor is BetterHelp.com Save 10% with my promo code WHOwww.betterhelp.com/WhoFollow me on Twitter @billhuffman3If you'd like to help support the podcast via PayPal with my email billhuffman123@yahoo.com or Venmo @Billhuffman3http://www.cityofbayvillage.com/safety-services/police-department.aspxCALL 440-871-1234 if you have any information regarding Amy's murder. It has been just over a year since I published the first episode of Who Killed Amy Mihaljevic?It has gone the way I had thought it would if I did it right of course. I must have done something right because there have been over 1-million downloads, 100 new tips, an Investigation Discovery Channel Documentary, an appearance at CrimeCon in New Orleans and several media stories. The podcast has allowed me to rejoin the journalism world and have made some great friendships along the way. October 27th will mark 30 years that Amy’s Case has remained unsolved. October 27, 1989, started like any other for Amy Mihaljevic. She packed her backpack, kissed her mom goodbye, hopped on her blue bike and rode off to school. Two things made this day different though; one Amy was carrying a secret and two, she never came home. It was a warm day for Northeast Ohio in October, with temperatures in the 70’s. Having grown up in the suburb next to Bay Village, I understand how normal and common it is to ride your bike to school...especially if the weather allows it this late in the fall. Amy had told her mom and dad that she had a choir tryout after school and would be late. Neither parents questioned Amy’s story, she had never lied to them before, why would she lie about this. Margaret had just started being a full-time employee and Mark heading to Cincinnati for a work meeting and they probably just assumed everything was on the up and up. Amy’s brother Jason, who was a year ahead of Amy, did not notice anything unusual. As Amy pedaled away that Friday morning nobody in the Mihaljevic family knew how much their life would change in less than 10 hours. A normal day became anything but when Amy didn’t come home from school. The last time Amy spoke with her mother was when she called to check in after school. There have been some reports saying that Amy sounded a bit distant but we are taking that from Margaret and she was not in a state where she could think clearly. There have been many stories about family members being in a daze those first few days after a tragedy. With Amy being abducted on a Friday it was a time where most families were heading to football games or planning the weekend's activities. The FBI’s Reactive squad was called after Margaret went to the police station and explained the situation. Sensing that this was more than just a girl going to a friend's house the alarm was sounded immediately. Add Clip- we got the newsAmy’s Case was easy for the local media to get behind because she was a young white girl from an upper middle-class family. There have been plenty of examples of people of color not being given the same treatment and since this was 1989 the media did not do much self-reflection. Either way, the story caught fire locally when it was learned that Amy’s abduction wasn’t random and had been part of a ruse. Two of Amy’s classmates went to the police and told them that Amy said she had been planning on meeting a man who she said worked with her mother. With hindsight being 20/20 we can now question how credible those sources could have been. Hear me out...The two witnesses were Amy’s age. They did not know Amy well enough to know who her father was because one of the witnesses thought it might have been her father. Once they saw and heard the news about Amy’s abduction they had to tell the police. Phil Torsney was a special agent for... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices