The murder of Amy Mihaljevic
Bay Village, Cuyahoga County, Ohio · October 27, 1989
A ten-year-old walked to a shopping plaza to meet a man who had phoned with a story about a gift for her mother, and 37 years later a police chief says the case "feels close" even as the latest DNA test, on hairs found on her clothing, came back unusable.
Overview
On October 27, 1989, ten-year-old Amy Mihaljevic walked from Bay Middle School to a nearby shopping plaza in Bay Village, Ohio, to meet a man who had telephoned her, saying her mother had been promoted at work and offering to help her buy a surprise gift. Friends saw her with a man in his thirties, and she was last seen walking through the parking lot with him. On February 8, 1990, a jogger found her body in a farm field off County Road 1181 in rural Ashland County, about 50 miles away. She had been stabbed. Police and the FBI have conducted at least 20,000 interviews and collected DNA from roughly 250 people, and court documents describe a man whom a former girlfriend identified to police as a suspect in 2019, but no one has been charged. Amy's hair was later found on a curtain and blanket that investigators believe were used to wrap her. In January 2026, Bay Village police said a California lab could not get a profile from hairs found on her clothing, and a separate sample of an unknown man's DNA on her sweatpants remains too small to use. The case is open.
Where it stands
The case is open, and as of October 2026 no one has been charged. The most recent official development is a setback. On January 9, 2026, WOIO reported that Bay Village Detective Sgt. Jay Elish said scientists at Astrea Forensics in San Jose, California, had determined they would not be able to get a profile from hairs recently detected on Amy's clothing, which the report said were likely too small or too degraded. Elish said investigators were still pushing forward with DNA testing. In September 2025 he had said those hairs were not Amy's or any family member's. A Florida lab had earlier found male DNA on her sweatpants, and police say that sample is still too small to test further. In June 2026, Police Chief Robert Gillespie said the department works the case every day and that, in his words, it feels close. Earlier, in 2021, testing showed Amy's hair on a curtain and blanket found near her body, which Elish said investigators believe were used to wrap her. Court documents reported by WEWS describe a man whom a former girlfriend identified to police in January 2019. They say two witnesses picked his photograph from lineups in May 2020 and that police reported his polygraph result as "deception indicated." He has not been charged and is not named here, and in September 2025 Elish said that no one questioned in the past year was a strong suspect. The case stays open because none of this has produced a charge. Reports differ on how far the curtain lay from the body, and an FBI agent said investigators still do not know where Amy was killed.
Persons of interest
The theories below are reported strictly as attributed to the cited sources. Naming a person here is not an accusation. Individuals are named only where they are deceased, were formally charged, were officially named by authorities, or have been publicly cleared.
- A man identified to Bay Village police in 2019 by a former girlfriendNot publicly named
According to court documents reported by WEWS, a woman told police in January 2019 that her former boyfriend was a suspect, and a detective's affidavit described his statements to police as "very suspicious." The documents say two witnesses picked his photograph from lineups in May 2020, that police reported his polygraph result as "deception indicated," and that police searched storage units under a warrant. He has not been charged, the documents set out the police account rather than any finding, and he is not named here.[3]
Sources
- The Amy Mihaljevic Case
“Amy’s body was found by a jogger in a farm field, close to the road, off County Road 1181.”
- Justice Unfinished
“He'd claimed her mother had gotten a promotion at work and offered to help her buy a surprise gift.”
- EXCLUSIVE: Court documents reveal startling new developments in Amy Mihaljevic murder investigation
“in January 2019 a woman came forward and identified her ex-boyfriend as a suspect in Mihaljevic’s murder.”
- Who killed Amy Mihaljevic? The missing pieces, and a killer on the run
“There’s another location somewhere, where Amy was murdered, and we don’t know where that location is at this point.”
- The Amy Mihaljevic Case: Investigators hold out hope that DNA advancements could soon help solve 1989 cold case
“We're hopeful that we have something in our evidence that will lead us to a suspect.”
- 'Now we know': New clues in the Amy Mihaljevic case
“Our theory is that they were used to wrap her in before she was dumped where she was found.”
- New evidence uncovered in Amy Mihaljevic case
“We've definitely found some male DNA on Amy's sweatpants that we feel is promising.”
- Family dog helped search for Amy Mihaljevic, his fur became evidence in murder case
“Jake sniffed around, passed a few stores and stopped right in the middle of the shopping center.”
- Is it hair from Amy Mihaljevic's killer? New DNA testing underway
“The first phase is, can we get a profile? If the answer is yes, we go to phase two, where we get a profile.”
- Bay Village police confirm setback in Amy Mihaljevic murder investigation
“scientists at Astrea Forensics in San Jose, Calif. have determined they will not be able to get a profile from those hairs”
- Will Hair Found On Amy Mihaljevic's Clothes Lead to a Conviction After 36 Years?
“We feel very strongly that those items were probably wrapped around her when her body was dumped.”
- Bay Village police chief explains how Amy Fund donations help solve murder mystery
““In my heart, I think it feels close. I really do,” Gillespie said.”