January 13, 2025 • 33 mins
What if a routine day could suddenly twist into an unsolved mystery that would haunt a community for decades? Today, we unravel the baffling disappearance of Paige Renkoski from a highway in Michigan, tracing her last known steps and the chilling details that unfolded after her car was found idling, her belongings eerily untouched. Join us as we revisit eyewitness accounts of her emotional state and interactions with strange men near a minivan, and the unsettling questions these observations raise.
Suspicion looms large as we scrutinize the peculiar elements of Paige's case, from her abandoned car with the windshield wipers on to the cryptic anonymous letter that emerged years later. We dissect every angle the investigation took—or perhaps missed—including the role of a suspect whose identity remains shrouded in mystery even today. Through a close examination of police efforts and public contributions, we ponder whether key evidence slipped through the fingers of those searching for answers.
In the quest for resolution, we highlight the importance of community involvement and how your tips could be the missing piece of this decades-old puzzle. We invite listeners to not only reflect on the haunting possibilities of being a victim of circumstance but also to engage with us on social media, share thoughts, and maybe suggest the next gripping case to explore. As we continue to seek justice for Paige, your voice could be a crucial ally in piecing together the truth.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Paige_Renkoski
https://www.bigrapidsnews.com/news/article/missing-paige-renkoski-cold-case-michigan-tips-19476701.php
https://www.wilx.com/2023/05/24/msu-professor-brings-new-efforts-investigate-case-missing-okemos-woman/
https://charleyproject.org/case/paige-marie-renkoski
https://wbckfm.com/cold-case-fowlerville-the-disappearance-of-paige-renkoski/
https://coalitionforthemurderedandmissing.org/paige-renkoski/
Music:
Crime Trap by Muza Productions
Creepy-Echo-Piano by Tim Kulig
Sad Trap Beat by BRVAN
News audio courtesy of WILX
Gone in a Blink is created by Heather Hicks and Danielle E.
Written and produced by Heather Hicks and hosted by Danielle E. and Heather Hicks.
Gone in a Blink theme: Crime Trap created and produced by Muzaproduction
We would love to hear from you!
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Thanks for joining us on the airwaves. And remember......Be Safe, Be Smart, and Try Not to Blink.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
A cold case team armed with cadaver dogs picks up
a scent in the search for PaigeMinkowski, missing since 1990.
The 21-year-old disappearedfrom I-96, her purse and shoes
still inside her running car.
30-year-old Paige Minkowski.
She was last seen in May of1990.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
The date is May 24, 1990.
The place is the side ofInterstate 96 near Fallerville,
michigan.
A young woman pulls her car tothe side of the road for reasons
we may never know.
Pulls her car to the side ofthe road for reasons we may
(00:49):
never know, she is soonapproached by two men walking
towards her vehicle.
Multiple witnesses driving byclaim that the young woman
appeared very emotional.
No one passing by seems tothink twice about this
interaction until the youngwoman's car is parked in the
very same spot several hourslater.
(01:13):
The car is still running, thewindshield wipers swing back and
forth and not a drop of rain inthe forecast.
Back and forth, and not a dropof rain in the forecast.
This time the young woman isnowhere to be found and neither
are the men who had approachedher hours before.
(01:37):
This is the case into thedisappearance of Paige Rinkoski.
And this is Gone in a Blink.
Hey, true crime fans, I'm yourhost, heather, and I'm Danielle.
(02:02):
Welcome to episode 31 of Gonein a Blink.
I hope everyone enjoyed theholidays and, wherever you are
in the world, I hope you wereable to enjoy time with the
people you love and kind ofdecompress from all the crazy
hustle and bustle that comeswith the holiday season.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Yes, happy new year.
I hope it's off to a good start.
I know here in KC we are tryingto dig ourselves out of a big
snowstorm.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Yes, we here in Kansas City survived what the
local news outlets are referringto as snowmageddon.
I believe we probably gotsomewhere around 10 inches of
snow in a matter of a day and ahalf, with 20 to 30 mile per
hour wind gusts and the icyroads and several of the local
interstate shut down, schoolsshut down, the whole thing, and
(02:54):
I understand that some of ournortherners like from the
Dakotas and places like that.
To them this is nothing becausethey're used to getting so much
of the snow, but for usMidwesterners it's kind of a lot
to take in.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Yeah, I'm still trying to dig myself out of my
driveway and, of course, withthe snow plows coming, you get
dug out and then they push itall back onto your driveway
Again.
Like Heather said, I'm surethat Northeasterners I'm sure
that this is nothing to them,but oh, here in the Midwest it
is really shutting downeverything.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
So January really obviously did make an
unforgettable entrance this year.
So today's case is out ofLivingston County, Michigan.
Today we are talking about thedisappearance of Paige Rinkoski,
so if you're ready, let's jumpright in.
Paige Marie Rinkoski was bornon February 2nd 1960.
(03:55):
She was a beloved substituteteacher from DeWitt Township,
Michigan, which is close toOkemos, Michigan, where she also
worked as a preschool aidewhile going to school to earn a
degree in early childhooddevelopment.
She was described by many whoknew her as being fun-loving and
extremely hard-working.
She soon met the love of herlife, a man by the name of Steve
(04:18):
Debrabander, and the two endedup moving in together Soon after
the happy couple became engagedand were to be married in
November of 1990.
Everything was going great forPaige and she was genuinely
happy.
On May 24th 1990, around 11.30am, Paige drove her mother to
(04:39):
the Detroit Metro Airport, whichis approximately 84.5 miles or
136 kilometers southeast ofOkemos.
After dropping her mom off atthe airport, Paige drove to
Canton, Michigan, where she hadplans to meet up with a friend
for lunch, and Canton is onlyabout 14 miles north of the
(05:02):
Detroit airport, or 24kilometers and roughly a 25
minute drive.
So after leaving her friendPaige, drove to a local
convenience store located justwest of Interstate 275 in Canton
where she purchased a singlecan of beer, and this was
between 2.30 and 2.45 pm.
(05:24):
The store clerk distinctlyremembered seeing Paige that day
because she was wearing abright, multicolored pair of
baggy flower print pants and avery distinctive necklace.
From there she had plans to gowatch her fiance play softball,
which should have only beenabout a 30-minute drive from the
Canton area, which should haveonly been about a 30-minute
(05:47):
drive from the Canton area.
By 3.30 pm witnesses wouldreport seeing Page standing on
the westbound shoulder ofInterstate 96 near the
Fowlerville exit, talking withtwo unidentified men driving a
maroon or burgundy-coloredminivan.
It was reported that there mayhave been a third man either
inside or near the van as well.
So several witnesses reportedthat it seemed Paige was upset
(06:12):
because she was seen tossing herhands up in the air as one of
the men appeared to becomforting her as he put his
hand on her shoulder.
Several hours later, one of thesame witnesses who saw page
standing on the side ofinterstate 96 earlier that day
with the unidentified menspotted page's 1986 oldsmobile
(06:34):
cutlass parked in the same spotwhen they drove past there again
at 7 30 that evening.
The car appeared to be idlingand the windshield wipers were
on, yet no one was in the car,and the burgundy color minivan
with the men were gone.
This was concerning to thewitness, and so they notified
(06:55):
police.
By 7 48 pm, an officer arriveson the scene to find that
Paige's silver 1986 OldsmobileCutlass was in fact still idling
on the shoulder of Interstate96 with the windshield wipers on
, despite the fact that it was aclear evening.
The car had no damage.
(07:15):
The doors were unlocked, thelights and the radio were on,
and Paige's purse and shoes werestill inside the vehicle, along
with the can of beer that shehad purchased earlier in the day
.
The officer on scene doesn'tknow anything as suspicious, and
so he decides to run the tagson the car.
(07:36):
Since the car belonged toPaige's mother artist, he tried
calling her.
However, she was on vacationand she wasn't able to get the
call.
Now I just want to stop for asecond and take note that the
officer didn't find anythingsuspicious with the vehicle.
I personally find it verysuspicious that Paige is nowhere
(07:57):
to be found.
Her car has been idling forhours on the side of the
interstate and her purse andshoes are still inside the
vehicle.
So, because the officer didn'tfind anything suspicious, he
reported the vehicle as beingabandoned and had the vehicle
towed.
So what are your?
Speaker 3 (08:15):
thoughts on that.
This all to me personallysounds very suspicious, but I
keep on kind of going back tothat.
This was 1990.
So maybe for that time, as oddas that sounds, I could see the
police officer not thinking itthat suspicious or getting a
full picture of really what wasgoing on.
(08:37):
Because back then, I mean Idoubt they had a cell phone.
They tried to call the mom,couldn't get a hold of her
because she was on vacation.
Those are things that would notbe happening here today.
If she never showed up to thefiance's softball game, then he
would be trying to call.
Now, that wasn't an option in1990.
The oddest thing to me and Idon't know if our listeners feel
(09:01):
the same way how on earth couldthe car idle for that long With
you said lights on?
You said I mean we're talkinghours.
The battery wouldn't have randown by then.
I mean I don't know if that'sanother like I don't know
1990-ism or not that oh, theydon't make cars like how they
(09:24):
used to.
But I could not imagine I meanmy mind because we just went
through this snowstorm of peoplebeing stranded on the highway
for like five or six hours inour area and running out of gas
batteries going dead because ofthat.
But you're saying that a car at1986 cutlass could stay idle
(09:45):
with everything on for hourslike that just on the side of
the road.
That doesn't seem to make senseto me.
So that's kind of where Iwonder too if some kind of lapse
, if they could have came backto that location at this point
it seems a little far-fetched,but I guess that's where my
brain is is that there's amissing piece someplace?
Speaker 2 (10:04):
I think that if she had a full tank of gas, that car
could sit there for hoursrunning as long as she had gas,
as long as the gas tank didn'trun empty and just die.
I don't know how long you cansit there and leave your car
running on a full tank of gas,but I'm guessing it's quite a
(10:24):
bit of time, and I probably mostdefinitely four hours, but I
just thought that it was so.
I mean, to me that is sosuspicious in itself, because
people had driven by around 3 pmand spotted her on the side of
the road and we're talking fourhours later and her car is still
(10:45):
running.
That alone is suspicious,because of the fact it's running
, not because of the fact thather car's on the side of the
road and she's nowhere to befound, but also her purse and
shoes are inside.
Why are her shoes inside of thecar?
Now, one thing we could playdevil's advocate and say that it
(11:06):
could have been a possibilitythat she did abandon the car.
Okay, maybe the car had issuesand broke down and just maybe
she fought to get it startedagain and then actually did get
it started again, and then shewas afraid to shut it off and
instead got picked up by someone.
That actually doesn't even makesense, to be honest, because if
(11:27):
she got it started again shewould have just driven it home
and the shoes could have been anextra pair of shoes, but the
purse most people will not justtake off and leave their purse
in the car.
And that is the giant red flagout of all these other little
red flags, for me anyway well.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
So that goes back to the police officer at that time.
If we think that that was a redflag, fast forwarding however
many years, you would think thatthe police officer would pick
up on that.
That.
We have a running car, herpurse still in there, her shoes
still in there.
Somewhere she's running aroundwith no purse and no shoes.
Of course we have that addedcomponent of think about like a
(12:08):
cell phone nowadays.
If someone had left their cellphone, it's just like a purse
those things would be suspicious.
Or if she loses it, she's gonnawant it back right away because
that's like a lifeline.
I feel like at the time that thepurse was kind of like a
lifeline too.
So I'm kind of surprised thatthe police officer also would
(12:28):
think that that's not suspicious.
And I guess, as far as the carthing telling from experience of
being on the side of the roadbefore and not being able to get
the car started, that's whereit's like I can't fathom how it
would even last that long.
Maybe because I haveexperienced idle cars,
overheating or batteries goingdead or whatever.
(12:49):
Maybe that's just my own issue.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Well, definitely, obviously, she's been missing
all this time, and I think therewas enough red flags.
I think there should have beenenough red flags to, at the very
least, count this as suspicious.
I mean, I think the policecould have innocently thought
that it was an abandoned vehicle, but it's just very, very, very
suspicious to me that her pursewould be left in there.
(13:13):
Why would she have leftvoluntarily anyway?
I mean, the shoes being in thecar was strange enough.
However, that's something youcould explain.
Maybe they were not the shoesshe had been wearing, but
instead an extra pair.
Like I said, I just feel likemaybe the police were way too
quick to assume this was nothingmore than an abandoned vehicle.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
I would totally agree because, yeah, that's our
nature to think, oh well, thesecould have been an extra pair of
shoes.
I think about a police officercoming on the scene of something
like this.
He's getting paid to thinkoutside the box a little bit and
not just to assume, oh, thesecould be an extra pair of shoes,
just to assume, oh, these couldbe an extra pair of shoes,
(13:52):
Telling that this car has beenidle for four hours.
I think it would be a littlesafer to assume there could
really be something wrong.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
A lot of times with a lot of different departments.
They're too quick to just brushsomething off as being
unsuspicious.
Or you kind of get that a lotwith the runaways or technically
not runaways, but missingteenagers.
In general they're so quick tosay, oh, they're probably just a
runaway.
Well, you can't assume that.
(14:18):
How about assume the worst andthen hope for the best?
So on May 25th 1990 Paige'sfiance, steve, was extremely
concerned, as he should havebeen, so he went over to Paige's
mother's house to check hervoicemail.
There was a message from theinitial police officer on the
scene confirming that the carPaige had been driving that day
(14:41):
had in fact been towed and thatPaige was missing.
When police examined thevehicle, they found several
fingerprints and palm prints.
However, a match has never beenidentified on any of the
criminal databases.
Police interviewed the friendthat Paige had met for lunch
with that day, as well as herfiancé, stephen Debrabanter.
(15:03):
Stephen was interviewedmultiple times by authorities
but quickly cleared from being asuspect.
Times by authorities butquickly cleared from being a
suspect.
Police conducted an extensivesearch of the area surrounding
Interstate 96, where Page waslast seen.
Canines were brought in andended up tracking Page's scent
to a nearby field but quicklylost it, suggesting that Page
(15:25):
could have been taken somewhereby car.
Authorities reopened Page'scase in the late 1990s after
receiving an anonymous letterwith a map enclosed.
The letter stated that theinformation enclosed, quote
(15:53):
about page.
That may or may not be true.
I have tried to verify as muchof this information as I could
and have found many of thedetails to be true.
Unquote.
The letter goes on to statethat the map is quote the
supposed route taken by herabductors unquote.
The letter then ends with quotethank you for your attention to
this.
Unquote.
The letter and the map wereplaced into the case file.
(16:15):
Then, in May 2001, a man whosename had not been made public
was named a suspect in Paige'sdisappearance.
He was serving time in aMichigan prison for carjacking.
That crime had occurred just afew weeks after Paige went
missing, and that victim too wasa young woman.
Police interviewed the inmateseveral times and firmly at one
(16:38):
point believed that he had beenone of the men talking to Paige
on the side of the road that day.
However, he was quicklyeliminated from the suspect list
after passing a lie detectortest.
Suspect list after passing alie detector test.
So I'm certainly not aninvestigator, but I don't know
why I would have ruled him outas a suspect.
(16:59):
I would not have ruled him outas a suspect so quickly just
because he passed a polygraphtest.
And I mean, polygraphs are noteven considered to be super
reliable, so that which is whythey don't allow them in court.
So why would you completelyrule someone out as a suspect
whom you were quite certain wassomehow connected to Paige's
(17:19):
disappearance, just based on thepolygraph itself.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
Well, and I think that that's 2001, right.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Yeah, may 2001 is when they got the suspect and
they seemed pretty certain thathe was there, but totally ruled
him out once he passed thepolygraph.
And I'm just that has alwaysconfused me.
I mean, either you can put alot of stock in a polygraph test
result or you can't.
There's definitely not enoughreliability to make it
(17:47):
admissible in court and actuallyconvict someone of a crime.
But on the flip side of that,there's enough reliability that
you can completely say well,this test said that this person
didn't do it, so they didn't doit.
I mean, to me that's kind oflike a catch-22.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
Well, this specifically I think you go back
to the time in 2001,.
I think that they did put a lotof stock in lie detector tests,
a lot more than they do now,and so that's where I wonder if,
back then, well, your liedetector test came back saying
that he's telling the truth, itmust be true, but they didn't
(18:25):
look at the other evidence thatthey had that was making him one
of the prime suspects in thefirst place.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
Well, yeah, that's true too.
I think maybe there was a lotmore stock being put into a
polygraph back in 2001 versus2025 now.
So I think you know you got agood point with that.
I just I just ah, it drives mecrazy.
It's like if it was me I wouldhave you know, you have to let
him go, but at the same pointhe'd still be very much on the
(18:55):
list and he would still be on myradar and he still should be,
and maybe he is, maybe he isstill on their radar, I wouldn't
know, I guess.
But no one should be completelyeliminated unless you have a
lot riding on the fact that theyjust could not have committed
this crime.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
No, I totally agree.
Something that kind of caughtmy ear a bit too.
Is that okay?
Just a few weeks later he hadgot caught for luring a young
girl and abducting her, and sothat just kind of makes me like
think a little bit of how couldthey have got her to stop?
How did they get this otheryoung girl to stop?
Definitely, I guess what we'veseen since that time, since 1990
(19:37):
, is that it's kind of what'scame out is that it's usually
not an isolated event.
So in my thinking this verylikely could have been Paige,
along with other girls, that hehas done that and that he should
still be considered a suspect.
But right back then, especiallywith the lie detector test,
they really held weight in that.
(19:58):
But hopefully there's thingsthat to the public that, oh,
they released him as a suspect,but hopefully that they're
looking at his pattern as well.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
In 2009, investigators released
information that they hadcreated a list of six possible
suspects.
One of those suspects, whosename has not been released, had
been murdered in 1999.
They confirmed that thissuspect drove, at one point in
time, a burgundy minivan, muchlike the one described by
(20:27):
witnesses.
The day of Page's disappearance, in May 2011, investigators
searched a pond in HandyTownship after a witness made a
report of finding a pair ofboots near the water that were
covered in cement.
This discovery was made aroundthe same time as Page's
disappearance.
Around the same time as Paige'sdisappearance In November 2011,
(20:50):
the FBI, as well as state andlocal investigators, started
digging along the tree-lineddriveway of a home in Livingston
County, michigan, after cadaverdogs alerted them to the site.
An extensive search of the areaturned up nothing.
The map, an anonymous letterthat I had mentioned earlier, is
what led investigators tosearch this area, and I'm not
(21:10):
exactly sure why they waited solong to do this my first thought
was well, wow, from a you knowa murder slap, but possible
murder slash disappearance from1990 and then as late as 2011.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
So far from what you're saying, that we're still
investigating this.
Honestly, I was a littlesurprised because to not have a
whole lot of clues and to stillbe searching, that is surprising
, as in this day and age, thatit seems like that they just
give up so easily, unfortunately.
But then, as you say, yes, thatbrings up the other question.
(21:49):
Well, they've had this map forall these many years, and why
now?
Why haven't they been lookinginto this earlier?
Speaker 2 (21:58):
well, it was a late 1990s when they received this
map and they ended up, afterreceiving it, just putting it in
the case file.
And what happens when you putstuff away in a file, then it
gets it either gets lost or itgets forgotten about, and I
think that this got forgottenabout.
This case ran cold and then,when they decided to reopen it,
(22:22):
they decided to reopen it whenthis inmate who was in jail for
this carjacking when theythought that he was responsible
for this, is when they reopenedit.
So they reopen it.
They go back to the letter andthe map and then they decide oh
yeah, maybe we should searchthis area.
(22:44):
I found no reports stating thatthey had gone to this location
originally when they receivedthe map and all of this.
So, if they did, there's noreports of it that I could find,
but something tells me that itjust got pushed on the back
burner.
And so then here we are, 2011,november, so the end of 2011,.
(23:09):
When they decide to go searchthe area, they're not revealing
everything that was in theletter, on the map and,
unfortunately, when they finallydid go search this area, there
was nothing.
They found nothing.
Now, maybe if they had searchedearlier they would have found
something.
It's hard hard to say really,but that's a lot of time that
(23:30):
lapsed I feel like obviously toomuch time.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
But then and I as far-fetched as it sounds, it
almost seems like a confessionletter, and what I mean by that
is I mean you're describingsomething of one of the suspects
at the time before he wasmurdered.
He drove a maroon van, okay.
So where I guess I'm kind offeeling like that is whoever was
(23:54):
involved.
That's how they gave the map.
But then so many years haspassed that when the police
finally go, look that I meanwhether it's washed away.
You know the weathering.
And so I I mean for that muchtime to have passed.
Now.
If they would have took it alittle more seriously at the
time of the letter, maybe theywould have found something.
(24:15):
This is true.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
But unfortunately, by the time they got out there
there was nothing to be found.
So many people have comeforward claiming to have seen
her driving west on I-96.
One woman in particular claimsthat she saw Paige at the rest
stop kiosk.
Two truck drivers also claim tohave seen her driving along
(24:37):
I-96 that day.
Around the time that Paigedisappeared, there were multiple
incidences of peopleimpersonating police officers
that were showing fake badges tomotorists in order to get them
to stop.
Police wonder if this issomething that could have
happened in Paige's case andalthough anything is possible at
this point, I don't think thatreally explains the unidentified
(25:01):
men, in my opinion, that wereparked alongside her on the side
of the interstate that day justmoments before she goes missing
.
I mean, I know we can't ruleanything out, but those men have
something.
In my opinion.
They have something to do withher disappearance.
That just seems like the mostplausible explanation at this
point.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
Well, absolutely, and I guess that's what I wonder if
, okay, so, were these menshowing the fake police officer
IDs, getting people to stop andgot her to stop?
You had mentioned earlier inthe story that the person that
had seen her on the side of theroad with these men and that she
was pretty frantic and that shewas obviously upset and
(25:44):
somebody was trying to comforther, I picture like a police
officer trying to comfortsomebody, and who knows whether
that was the case, that's howthey got her to stop, or other
people this has happened to Iguess where.
To me, okay, I could see themflashing a badge.
The person stops and then theyabduct.
(26:06):
I know it doesn't seem like realplausible, but I don't know.
If I was in that position and apolice officer was waving their
hands or whatever trying to getme to stop, I probably would at
first.
Now we have so many years andthings happening to women on the
side of the road, I wouldprobably first think about
stopping, but then not.
(26:26):
But who knows at that time that?
I mean it seems so silly, but1990, you didn't hear about this
as much.
So?
Speaker 2 (26:35):
I just I don't feel that in this case, and the
reason why is because they're onthe side of the interstate.
There's not going to be apolice car pulled over.
That would probably be thebiggest red flag for me.
If someone was standingalongside the interstate and the
only thing that you had thatmight indicate that they were a
(26:57):
police officer is some badgethat you're not going to be able
to see very well anyway,because you are driving down the
interstate and they're at theside of the road, I wouldn't
stop.
I don't even think I would havestopped back in 1990 just based
on that alone.
But then you've got the aspectthat there are one to two other
(27:19):
males on the side of the road.
You've got this burgundyminivan.
You know, maybe it'd be adifferent situation if there was
a police car.
That would be the biggest thingI would be looking for is a
police car on the side of theroad.
I think this sounds more likemaybe it had nothing to do with
all those other incidences.
Now, the guy that was an inmatethat they were thinking had
(27:41):
something to do with this.
That was a carjacking.
That was not necessarily to.
Anything that I have comeacross been a situation where he
was luring anybody.
I mean that woman could havebeen at a stoplight or a stop
sign and got jacked.
I don't know if she gotkidnapped or if she got forced
(28:02):
out of the vehicle.
They didn't elaborate with that, but this just sounds very
isolated and I don't think thatthey were necessarily trying to
target Paige.
I think they were trying tomaybe target anyone that would
stop a female in particular.
But I mean, I don't know,targeting her on an interstate
(28:23):
would have been a huge leap.
Since Page's disappearance, morethan 25 billboards have been
placed along Interstate 96.
Livingston County DetectiveSergeant Matt Young announced
that since the case began, theiroffice has received more than
1,200 tips.
Among those, about 40 of themwere tips from individuals who
(28:45):
reported seeing Paige on theside of the road that day.
So there were in fact a lot ofpeople a decent amount of people
that saw her on the side of theroad with those men and to this
day no one is sure as to whyPaige was pulled over that
afternoon or whether or not sheeven knew the men whom she was
talking to.
It is unclear if the men shewas speaking with are even
(29:08):
involved in her disappearance.
However, I feel like theyprobably are.
Her family believes that it's agood possibility that Paige
knew at least one of the men andthat she would have stopped if
she saw someone that she knew onthe side of the road.
So that is something toconsider too.
Maybe she did know one of themales.
Speaker 3 (29:28):
Yeah, I could see that, and especially her family.
Knowing her best Sounds likePaige was a really caring person
.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
Her family also stated that they don't believe
that Paige would have leftvoluntarily.
It was reported that she haddeposited a large sum of money
in her bank account before herdisappearance and that money has
remained untouched since shewent missing.
33 years after Paige'sdisappearance, a Michigan State
(29:55):
University professor by the nameof Dr Jerry Alamit-Zeldes,
along with a few of her studentsfrom the school's journalism
department, became so fascinatedwith Paige's case that they
created a documentary in thehopes of keeping Page's story
alive.
The 23-minute documentary canbe found on YouTube and I will
(30:16):
post a link to that on ourFacebook page.
Despite the fact that no onehas been charged in Page's
disappearance or the fact that abody has yet to be found,
police have ruled this case ahomicide.
Michigan Crime Stoppers areoffering up to a $2,500 cash
reward for any informationleading to the whereabouts of
(30:38):
Paige Wienkoski, and cold caseinvestigators with the
Livingston County Sheriff'sDepartment continue to work on
the case.
A Facebook page was created inher honor, entitled Paige
Wienkoski 52490 Never Give Up.
Unfortunately, in December 2017, paige's mother artist passed
(31:01):
away, never receiving theclosure that she has so
desperately fought for.
On February 2nd 2018, a dualmemorial service was held for
both Paige and her mother.
Paige Rinkoski was 30 years oldat the time of her disappearance
and would be 64 years old today.
(31:22):
Today, she is described ashaving been five foot six inches
tall and weighing approximately125 pounds at the time of her
disappearance.
She has blonde hair, blue eyesand surgical scars on the inside
of her right arm, as well asboth of her knees.
She was last seen wearing awhite silk shirt with bright
(31:47):
silk pants and a long beadednecklace.
If you have any informationinto the disappearance of Paige
Wienkoski, please call the CrimeStoppers Anonymous hotline at
1-800 SPEAK-UP, that's1-800-773-2587, or you can call
(32:08):
the Livingston County Sheriff'sOffice at area code 517-546-2440
.
Thank you for listening toanother episode of Gone in a
Blink.
If you like our show, pleaseconsider giving us a five-star
review on Apple Podcasts, andwe'd love for you to follow us
(32:29):
on any of our social media sites.
Follow us on Facebook, at Gonein a Blink, or on Instagram, at
Gone in a Blink Pod, and if youhave a suggestion of a case
you'd like us to cover, drop usan email at goneinablinkpod at
gmailcom.
And, as always, please rememberbe safe, be smart and try not
(32:52):
to blink.
A cold case team armed with cadaver dogs picks up
a scent in the search for PaigeMinkowski, missing since 1990.
The 21-year-old disappearedfrom I-96, her purse and shoes
still inside her running car.
30-year-old Paige Minkowski.
She was last seen in May of1990.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
The date is May 24, 1990.
The place is the side ofInterstate 96 near Fallerville,
michigan.
A young woman pulls her car tothe side of the road for reasons
we may never know.
Pulls her car to the side ofthe road for reasons we may
(00:49):
never know, she is soonapproached by two men walking
towards her vehicle.
Multiple witnesses driving byclaim that the young woman
appeared very emotional.
No one passing by seems tothink twice about this
interaction until the youngwoman's car is parked in the
very same spot several hourslater.
(01:13):
The car is still running, thewindshield wipers swing back and
forth and not a drop of rain inthe forecast.
Back and forth, and not a dropof rain in the forecast.
This time the young woman isnowhere to be found and neither
are the men who had approachedher hours before.
(01:37):
This is the case into thedisappearance of Paige Rinkoski.
And this is Gone in a Blink.
Hey, true crime fans, I'm yourhost, heather, and I'm Danielle.
(02:02):
Welcome to episode 31 of Gonein a Blink.
I hope everyone enjoyed theholidays and, wherever you are
in the world, I hope you wereable to enjoy time with the
people you love and kind ofdecompress from all the crazy
hustle and bustle that comeswith the holiday season.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Yes, happy new year.
I hope it's off to a good start.
I know here in KC we are tryingto dig ourselves out of a big
snowstorm.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Yes, we here in Kansas City survived what the
local news outlets are referringto as snowmageddon.
I believe we probably gotsomewhere around 10 inches of
snow in a matter of a day and ahalf, with 20 to 30 mile per
hour wind gusts and the icyroads and several of the local
interstate shut down, schoolsshut down, the whole thing, and
(02:54):
I understand that some of ournortherners like from the
Dakotas and places like that.
To them this is nothing becausethey're used to getting so much
of the snow, but for usMidwesterners it's kind of a lot
to take in.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Yeah, I'm still trying to dig myself out of my
driveway and, of course, withthe snow plows coming, you get
dug out and then they push itall back onto your driveway
Again.
Like Heather said, I'm surethat Northeasterners I'm sure
that this is nothing to them,but oh, here in the Midwest it
is really shutting downeverything.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
So January really obviously did make an
unforgettable entrance this year.
So today's case is out ofLivingston County, Michigan.
Today we are talking about thedisappearance of Paige Rinkoski,
so if you're ready, let's jumpright in.
Paige Marie Rinkoski was bornon February 2nd 1960.
(03:55):
She was a beloved substituteteacher from DeWitt Township,
Michigan, which is close toOkemos, Michigan, where she also
worked as a preschool aidewhile going to school to earn a
degree in early childhooddevelopment.
She was described by many whoknew her as being fun-loving and
extremely hard-working.
She soon met the love of herlife, a man by the name of Steve
(04:18):
Debrabander, and the two endedup moving in together Soon after
the happy couple became engagedand were to be married in
November of 1990.
Everything was going great forPaige and she was genuinely
happy.
On May 24th 1990, around 11.30am, Paige drove her mother to
(04:39):
the Detroit Metro Airport, whichis approximately 84.5 miles or
136 kilometers southeast ofOkemos.
After dropping her mom off atthe airport, Paige drove to
Canton, Michigan, where she hadplans to meet up with a friend
for lunch, and Canton is onlyabout 14 miles north of the
(05:02):
Detroit airport, or 24kilometers and roughly a 25
minute drive.
So after leaving her friendPaige, drove to a local
convenience store located justwest of Interstate 275 in Canton
where she purchased a singlecan of beer, and this was
between 2.30 and 2.45 pm.
(05:24):
The store clerk distinctlyremembered seeing Paige that day
because she was wearing abright, multicolored pair of
baggy flower print pants and avery distinctive necklace.
From there she had plans to gowatch her fiance play softball,
which should have only beenabout a 30-minute drive from the
Canton area, which should haveonly been about a 30-minute
(05:47):
drive from the Canton area.
By 3.30 pm witnesses wouldreport seeing Page standing on
the westbound shoulder ofInterstate 96 near the
Fowlerville exit, talking withtwo unidentified men driving a
maroon or burgundy-coloredminivan.
It was reported that there mayhave been a third man either
inside or near the van as well.
So several witnesses reportedthat it seemed Paige was upset
(06:12):
because she was seen tossing herhands up in the air as one of
the men appeared to becomforting her as he put his
hand on her shoulder.
Several hours later, one of thesame witnesses who saw page
standing on the side ofinterstate 96 earlier that day
with the unidentified menspotted page's 1986 oldsmobile
(06:34):
cutlass parked in the same spotwhen they drove past there again
at 7 30 that evening.
The car appeared to be idlingand the windshield wipers were
on, yet no one was in the car,and the burgundy color minivan
with the men were gone.
This was concerning to thewitness, and so they notified
(06:55):
police.
By 7 48 pm, an officer arriveson the scene to find that
Paige's silver 1986 OldsmobileCutlass was in fact still idling
on the shoulder of Interstate96 with the windshield wipers on
, despite the fact that it was aclear evening.
The car had no damage.
(07:15):
The doors were unlocked, thelights and the radio were on,
and Paige's purse and shoes werestill inside the vehicle, along
with the can of beer that shehad purchased earlier in the day
.
The officer on scene doesn'tknow anything as suspicious, and
so he decides to run the tagson the car.
(07:36):
Since the car belonged toPaige's mother artist, he tried
calling her.
However, she was on vacationand she wasn't able to get the
call.
Now I just want to stop for asecond and take note that the
officer didn't find anythingsuspicious with the vehicle.
I personally find it verysuspicious that Paige is nowhere
(07:57):
to be found.
Her car has been idling forhours on the side of the
interstate and her purse andshoes are still inside the
vehicle.
So, because the officer didn'tfind anything suspicious, he
reported the vehicle as beingabandoned and had the vehicle
towed.
So what are your?
Speaker 3 (08:15):
thoughts on that.
This all to me personallysounds very suspicious, but I
keep on kind of going back tothat.
This was 1990.
So maybe for that time, as oddas that sounds, I could see the
police officer not thinking itthat suspicious or getting a
full picture of really what wasgoing on.
(08:37):
Because back then, I mean Idoubt they had a cell phone.
They tried to call the mom,couldn't get a hold of her
because she was on vacation.
Those are things that would notbe happening here today.
If she never showed up to thefiance's softball game, then he
would be trying to call.
Now, that wasn't an option in1990.
The oddest thing to me and Idon't know if our listeners feel
(09:01):
the same way how on earth couldthe car idle for that long With
you said lights on?
You said I mean we're talkinghours.
The battery wouldn't have randown by then.
I mean I don't know if that'sanother like I don't know
1990-ism or not that oh, theydon't make cars like how they
(09:24):
used to.
But I could not imagine I meanmy mind because we just went
through this snowstorm of peoplebeing stranded on the highway
for like five or six hours inour area and running out of gas
batteries going dead because ofthat.
But you're saying that a car at1986 cutlass could stay idle
(09:45):
with everything on for hourslike that just on the side of
the road.
That doesn't seem to make senseto me.
So that's kind of where Iwonder too if some kind of lapse
, if they could have came backto that location at this point
it seems a little far-fetched,but I guess that's where my
brain is is that there's amissing piece someplace?
Speaker 2 (10:04):
I think that if she had a full tank of gas, that car
could sit there for hoursrunning as long as she had gas,
as long as the gas tank didn'trun empty and just die.
I don't know how long you cansit there and leave your car
running on a full tank of gas,but I'm guessing it's quite a
(10:24):
bit of time, and I probably mostdefinitely four hours, but I
just thought that it was so.
I mean, to me that is sosuspicious in itself, because
people had driven by around 3 pmand spotted her on the side of
the road and we're talking fourhours later and her car is still
(10:45):
running.
That alone is suspicious,because of the fact it's running
, not because of the fact thather car's on the side of the
road and she's nowhere to befound, but also her purse and
shoes are inside.
Why are her shoes inside of thecar?
Now, one thing we could playdevil's advocate and say that it
(11:06):
could have been a possibilitythat she did abandon the car.
Okay, maybe the car had issuesand broke down and just maybe
she fought to get it startedagain and then actually did get
it started again, and then shewas afraid to shut it off and
instead got picked up by someone.
That actually doesn't even makesense, to be honest, because if
(11:27):
she got it started again shewould have just driven it home
and the shoes could have been anextra pair of shoes, but the
purse most people will not justtake off and leave their purse
in the car.
And that is the giant red flagout of all these other little
red flags, for me anyway well.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
So that goes back to the police officer at that time.
If we think that that was a redflag, fast forwarding however
many years, you would think thatthe police officer would pick
up on that.
That.
We have a running car, herpurse still in there, her shoes
still in there.
Somewhere she's running aroundwith no purse and no shoes.
Of course we have that addedcomponent of think about like a
(12:08):
cell phone nowadays.
If someone had left their cellphone, it's just like a purse
those things would be suspicious.
Or if she loses it, she's gonnawant it back right away because
that's like a lifeline.
I feel like at the time that thepurse was kind of like a
lifeline too.
So I'm kind of surprised thatthe police officer also would
(12:28):
think that that's not suspicious.
And I guess, as far as the carthing telling from experience of
being on the side of the roadbefore and not being able to get
the car started, that's whereit's like I can't fathom how it
would even last that long.
Maybe because I haveexperienced idle cars,
overheating or batteries goingdead or whatever.
(12:49):
Maybe that's just my own issue.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Well, definitely, obviously, she's been missing
all this time, and I think therewas enough red flags.
I think there should have beenenough red flags to, at the very
least, count this as suspicious.
I mean, I think the policecould have innocently thought
that it was an abandoned vehicle, but it's just very, very, very
suspicious to me that her pursewould be left in there.
(13:13):
Why would she have leftvoluntarily anyway?
I mean, the shoes being in thecar was strange enough.
However, that's something youcould explain.
Maybe they were not the shoesshe had been wearing, but
instead an extra pair.
Like I said, I just feel likemaybe the police were way too
quick to assume this was nothingmore than an abandoned vehicle.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
I would totally agree because, yeah, that's our
nature to think, oh well, thesecould have been an extra pair of
shoes.
I think about a police officercoming on the scene of something
like this.
He's getting paid to thinkoutside the box a little bit and
not just to assume, oh, thesecould be an extra pair of shoes,
just to assume, oh, these couldbe an extra pair of shoes,
(13:52):
Telling that this car has beenidle for four hours.
I think it would be a littlesafer to assume there could
really be something wrong.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
A lot of times with a lot of different departments.
They're too quick to just brushsomething off as being
unsuspicious.
Or you kind of get that a lotwith the runaways or technically
not runaways, but missingteenagers.
In general they're so quick tosay, oh, they're probably just a
runaway.
Well, you can't assume that.
(14:18):
How about assume the worst andthen hope for the best?
So on May 25th 1990 Paige'sfiance, steve, was extremely
concerned, as he should havebeen, so he went over to Paige's
mother's house to check hervoicemail.
There was a message from theinitial police officer on the
scene confirming that the carPaige had been driving that day
(14:41):
had in fact been towed and thatPaige was missing.
When police examined thevehicle, they found several
fingerprints and palm prints.
However, a match has never beenidentified on any of the
criminal databases.
Police interviewed the friendthat Paige had met for lunch
with that day, as well as herfiancé, stephen Debrabanter.
(15:03):
Stephen was interviewedmultiple times by authorities
but quickly cleared from being asuspect.
Times by authorities butquickly cleared from being a
suspect.
Police conducted an extensivesearch of the area surrounding
Interstate 96, where Page waslast seen.
Canines were brought in andended up tracking Page's scent
to a nearby field but quicklylost it, suggesting that Page
(15:25):
could have been taken somewhereby car.
Authorities reopened Page'scase in the late 1990s after
receiving an anonymous letterwith a map enclosed.
The letter stated that theinformation enclosed, quote
(15:53):
about page.
That may or may not be true.
I have tried to verify as muchof this information as I could
and have found many of thedetails to be true.
Unquote.
The letter goes on to statethat the map is quote the
supposed route taken by herabductors unquote.
The letter then ends with quotethank you for your attention to
this.
Unquote.
The letter and the map wereplaced into the case file.
(16:15):
Then, in May 2001, a man whosename had not been made public
was named a suspect in Paige'sdisappearance.
He was serving time in aMichigan prison for carjacking.
That crime had occurred just afew weeks after Paige went
missing, and that victim too wasa young woman.
Police interviewed the inmateseveral times and firmly at one
(16:38):
point believed that he had beenone of the men talking to Paige
on the side of the road that day.
However, he was quicklyeliminated from the suspect list
after passing a lie detectortest.
Suspect list after passing alie detector test.
So I'm certainly not aninvestigator, but I don't know
why I would have ruled him outas a suspect.
(16:59):
I would not have ruled him outas a suspect so quickly just
because he passed a polygraphtest.
And I mean, polygraphs are noteven considered to be super
reliable, so that which is whythey don't allow them in court.
So why would you completelyrule someone out as a suspect
whom you were quite certain wassomehow connected to Paige's
(17:19):
disappearance, just based on thepolygraph itself.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
Well, and I think that that's 2001, right.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Yeah, may 2001 is when they got the suspect and
they seemed pretty certain thathe was there, but totally ruled
him out once he passed thepolygraph.
And I'm just that has alwaysconfused me.
I mean, either you can put alot of stock in a polygraph test
result or you can't.
There's definitely not enoughreliability to make it
(17:47):
admissible in court and actuallyconvict someone of a crime.
But on the flip side of that,there's enough reliability that
you can completely say well,this test said that this person
didn't do it, so they didn't doit.
I mean, to me that's kind oflike a catch-22.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
Well, this specifically I think you go back
to the time in 2001,.
I think that they did put a lotof stock in lie detector tests,
a lot more than they do now,and so that's where I wonder if,
back then, well, your liedetector test came back saying
that he's telling the truth, itmust be true, but they didn't
(18:25):
look at the other evidence thatthey had that was making him one
of the prime suspects in thefirst place.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
Well, yeah, that's true too.
I think maybe there was a lotmore stock being put into a
polygraph back in 2001 versus2025 now.
So I think you know you got agood point with that.
I just I just ah, it drives mecrazy.
It's like if it was me I wouldhave you know, you have to let
him go, but at the same pointhe'd still be very much on the
(18:55):
list and he would still be on myradar and he still should be,
and maybe he is, maybe he isstill on their radar, I wouldn't
know, I guess.
But no one should be completelyeliminated unless you have a
lot riding on the fact that theyjust could not have committed
this crime.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
No, I totally agree.
Something that kind of caughtmy ear a bit too.
Is that okay?
Just a few weeks later he hadgot caught for luring a young
girl and abducting her, and sothat just kind of makes me like
think a little bit of how couldthey have got her to stop?
How did they get this otheryoung girl to stop?
Definitely, I guess what we'veseen since that time, since 1990
(19:37):
, is that it's kind of what'scame out is that it's usually
not an isolated event.
So in my thinking this verylikely could have been Paige,
along with other girls, that hehas done that and that he should
still be considered a suspect.
But right back then, especiallywith the lie detector test,
they really held weight in that.
(19:58):
But hopefully there's thingsthat to the public that, oh,
they released him as a suspect,but hopefully that they're
looking at his pattern as well.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
In 2009, investigators released
information that they hadcreated a list of six possible
suspects.
One of those suspects, whosename has not been released, had
been murdered in 1999.
They confirmed that thissuspect drove, at one point in
time, a burgundy minivan, muchlike the one described by
(20:27):
witnesses.
The day of Page's disappearance, in May 2011, investigators
searched a pond in HandyTownship after a witness made a
report of finding a pair ofboots near the water that were
covered in cement.
This discovery was made aroundthe same time as Page's
disappearance.
Around the same time as Paige'sdisappearance In November 2011,
(20:50):
the FBI, as well as state andlocal investigators, started
digging along the tree-lineddriveway of a home in Livingston
County, michigan, after cadaverdogs alerted them to the site.
An extensive search of the areaturned up nothing.
The map, an anonymous letterthat I had mentioned earlier, is
what led investigators tosearch this area, and I'm not
(21:10):
exactly sure why they waited solong to do this my first thought
was well, wow, from a you knowa murder slap, but possible
murder slash disappearance from1990 and then as late as 2011.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
So far from what you're saying, that we're still
investigating this.
Honestly, I was a littlesurprised because to not have a
whole lot of clues and to stillbe searching, that is surprising
, as in this day and age, thatit seems like that they just
give up so easily, unfortunately.
But then, as you say, yes, thatbrings up the other question.
(21:49):
Well, they've had this map forall these many years, and why
now?
Why haven't they been lookinginto this earlier?
Speaker 2 (21:58):
well, it was a late 1990s when they received this
map and they ended up, afterreceiving it, just putting it in
the case file.
And what happens when you putstuff away in a file, then it
gets it either gets lost or itgets forgotten about, and I
think that this got forgottenabout.
This case ran cold and then,when they decided to reopen it,
(22:22):
they decided to reopen it whenthis inmate who was in jail for
this carjacking when theythought that he was responsible
for this, is when they reopenedit.
So they reopen it.
They go back to the letter andthe map and then they decide oh
yeah, maybe we should searchthis area.
(22:44):
I found no reports stating thatthey had gone to this location
originally when they receivedthe map and all of this.
So, if they did, there's noreports of it that I could find,
but something tells me that itjust got pushed on the back
burner.
And so then here we are, 2011,november, so the end of 2011,.
(23:09):
When they decide to go searchthe area, they're not revealing
everything that was in theletter, on the map and,
unfortunately, when they finallydid go search this area, there
was nothing.
They found nothing.
Now, maybe if they had searchedearlier they would have found
something.
It's hard hard to say really,but that's a lot of time that
(23:30):
lapsed I feel like obviously toomuch time.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
But then and I as far-fetched as it sounds, it
almost seems like a confessionletter, and what I mean by that
is I mean you're describingsomething of one of the suspects
at the time before he wasmurdered.
He drove a maroon van, okay.
So where I guess I'm kind offeeling like that is whoever was
(23:54):
involved.
That's how they gave the map.
But then so many years haspassed that when the police
finally go, look that I meanwhether it's washed away.
You know the weathering.
And so I I mean for that muchtime to have passed.
Now.
If they would have took it alittle more seriously at the
time of the letter, maybe theywould have found something.
(24:15):
This is true.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
But unfortunately, by the time they got out there
there was nothing to be found.
So many people have comeforward claiming to have seen
her driving west on I-96.
One woman in particular claimsthat she saw Paige at the rest
stop kiosk.
Two truck drivers also claim tohave seen her driving along
(24:37):
I-96 that day.
Around the time that Paigedisappeared, there were multiple
incidences of peopleimpersonating police officers
that were showing fake badges tomotorists in order to get them
to stop.
Police wonder if this issomething that could have
happened in Paige's case andalthough anything is possible at
this point, I don't think thatreally explains the unidentified
(25:01):
men, in my opinion, that wereparked alongside her on the side
of the interstate that day justmoments before she goes missing
.
I mean, I know we can't ruleanything out, but those men have
something.
In my opinion.
They have something to do withher disappearance.
That just seems like the mostplausible explanation at this
point.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
Well, absolutely, and I guess that's what I wonder if
, okay, so, were these menshowing the fake police officer
IDs, getting people to stop andgot her to stop?
You had mentioned earlier inthe story that the person that
had seen her on the side of theroad with these men and that she
was pretty frantic and that shewas obviously upset and
(25:44):
somebody was trying to comforther, I picture like a police
officer trying to comfortsomebody, and who knows whether
that was the case, that's howthey got her to stop, or other
people this has happened to Iguess where.
To me, okay, I could see themflashing a badge.
The person stops and then theyabduct.
(26:06):
I know it doesn't seem like realplausible, but I don't know.
If I was in that position and apolice officer was waving their
hands or whatever trying to getme to stop, I probably would at
first.
Now we have so many years andthings happening to women on the
side of the road, I wouldprobably first think about
stopping, but then not.
(26:26):
But who knows at that time that?
I mean it seems so silly, but1990, you didn't hear about this
as much.
So?
Speaker 2 (26:35):
I just I don't feel that in this case, and the
reason why is because they're onthe side of the interstate.
There's not going to be apolice car pulled over.
That would probably be thebiggest red flag for me.
If someone was standingalongside the interstate and the
only thing that you had thatmight indicate that they were a
(26:57):
police officer is some badgethat you're not going to be able
to see very well anyway,because you are driving down the
interstate and they're at theside of the road, I wouldn't
stop.
I don't even think I would havestopped back in 1990 just based
on that alone.
But then you've got the aspectthat there are one to two other
(27:19):
males on the side of the road.
You've got this burgundyminivan.
You know, maybe it'd be adifferent situation if there was
a police car.
That would be the biggest thingI would be looking for is a
police car on the side of theroad.
I think this sounds more likemaybe it had nothing to do with
all those other incidences.
Now, the guy that was an inmatethat they were thinking had
(27:41):
something to do with this.
That was a carjacking.
That was not necessarily to.
Anything that I have comeacross been a situation where he
was luring anybody.
I mean that woman could havebeen at a stoplight or a stop
sign and got jacked.
I don't know if she gotkidnapped or if she got forced
(28:02):
out of the vehicle.
They didn't elaborate with that, but this just sounds very
isolated and I don't think thatthey were necessarily trying to
target Paige.
I think they were trying tomaybe target anyone that would
stop a female in particular.
But I mean, I don't know,targeting her on an interstate
(28:23):
would have been a huge leap.
Since Page's disappearance, morethan 25 billboards have been
placed along Interstate 96.
Livingston County DetectiveSergeant Matt Young announced
that since the case began, theiroffice has received more than
1,200 tips.
Among those, about 40 of themwere tips from individuals who
(28:45):
reported seeing Paige on theside of the road that day.
So there were in fact a lot ofpeople a decent amount of people
that saw her on the side of theroad with those men and to this
day no one is sure as to whyPaige was pulled over that
afternoon or whether or not sheeven knew the men whom she was
talking to.
It is unclear if the men shewas speaking with are even
(29:08):
involved in her disappearance.
However, I feel like theyprobably are.
Her family believes that it's agood possibility that Paige
knew at least one of the men andthat she would have stopped if
she saw someone that she knew onthe side of the road.
So that is something toconsider too.
Maybe she did know one of themales.
Speaker 3 (29:28):
Yeah, I could see that, and especially her family.
Knowing her best Sounds likePaige was a really caring person
.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
Her family also stated that they don't believe
that Paige would have leftvoluntarily.
It was reported that she haddeposited a large sum of money
in her bank account before herdisappearance and that money has
remained untouched since shewent missing.
33 years after Paige'sdisappearance, a Michigan State
(29:55):
University professor by the nameof Dr Jerry Alamit-Zeldes,
along with a few of her studentsfrom the school's journalism
department, became so fascinatedwith Paige's case that they
created a documentary in thehopes of keeping Page's story
alive.
The 23-minute documentary canbe found on YouTube and I will
(30:16):
post a link to that on ourFacebook page.
Despite the fact that no onehas been charged in Page's
disappearance or the fact that abody has yet to be found,
police have ruled this case ahomicide.
Michigan Crime Stoppers areoffering up to a $2,500 cash
reward for any informationleading to the whereabouts of
(30:38):
Paige Wienkoski, and cold caseinvestigators with the
Livingston County Sheriff'sDepartment continue to work on
the case.
A Facebook page was created inher honor, entitled Paige
Wienkoski 52490 Never Give Up.
Unfortunately, in December 2017, paige's mother artist passed
(31:01):
away, never receiving theclosure that she has so
desperately fought for.
On February 2nd 2018, a dualmemorial service was held for
both Paige and her mother.
Paige Rinkoski was 30 years oldat the time of her disappearance
and would be 64 years old today.
(31:22):
Today, she is described ashaving been five foot six inches
tall and weighing approximately125 pounds at the time of her
disappearance.
She has blonde hair, blue eyesand surgical scars on the inside
of her right arm, as well asboth of her knees.
She was last seen wearing awhite silk shirt with bright
(31:47):
silk pants and a long beadednecklace.
If you have any informationinto the disappearance of Paige
Wienkoski, please call the CrimeStoppers Anonymous hotline at
1-800 SPEAK-UP, that's1-800-773-2587, or you can call
(32:08):
the Livingston County Sheriff'sOffice at area code 517-546-2440
.
Thank you for listening toanother episode of Gone in a
Blink.
If you like our show, pleaseconsider giving us a five-star
review on Apple Podcasts, andwe'd love for you to follow us
(32:29):
on any of our social media sites.
Follow us on Facebook, at Gonein a Blink, or on Instagram, at
Gone in a Blink Pod, and if youhave a suggestion of a case
you'd like us to cover, drop usan email at goneinablinkpod at
gmailcom.
And, as always, please rememberbe safe, be smart and try not
(32:52):
to blink.
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