Much ado about nothing?

So I wrote earlier about how they were digging up a suspected mass grave in Michigan, and thought as many as five missing girls might be there. I’ll list them again:

1. Cynthia Coon, 13, missing from Washtenaw County since January 19, 1970
2. Nadine Jean O’Dell, 16, missing from Inkster since August 16, 1974
3. Kimberly Alice King, 12, missing from Warren since September 16, 1979
4. Kim Marie Larrow, 13, missing from Canton since June 8, 1981
5. Kellie Marie Brownlee, 17, missing from Novi since May 20, 1982

Well, after a solid week out there with shovels and relatives pitching in (!), the dig is finished and they found…nothing. No human remains.

Obviously this is a profound disappointment for everybody and I have to wonder if there’s anyone out there at all. The police haven’t given up, at least not officially; they stated they quit in part because of weather and in part because they were “evaluating today what our next step is.”

So they’re digging up a suspected mass grave in Michigan

For the past several days cops have been excavating a farm in Michigan outside of Detroit, where they think several longtime missing girls are buried. The property used to be owned by Arthur Nelson Ream, who is currently serving a life sentence for the rape and murder of Cynthia Jocelyn Zarzycki.

Cindy was 13 when she disappeared in 1986. Her boyfriend, Scott Ream, was Arthur Ream’s son. Arthur told Cindy he was going to have a surprise party for Scott’s birthday, and invited her to come. She brought a mixtape to give to Scott. But there was no party; it was all an excuse for Arthur to get her into his car.

In 2008, Arthur lead investigators to Cindy’s body, buried in a shallow grave along the Clinton River in Macomb Township, Michigan. Well, apparently after his imprisonment he started talking about some other murders he allegedly committed.

The other possible victims (all from Michigan) include:

1. Cynthia Coon, 13, missing from Washtenaw County since January 19, 1970
2. Nadine Jean O’Dell, 16, missing from Inkster since August 16, 1974
3. Kimberly Alice King, 12, missing from Warren since September 16, 1979
4. Kim Marie Larrow, 13, missing from Canton since June 8, 1981
5. Kellie Marie Brownlee, 17, missing from Novi since May 20, 1982

And here’s some articles about it:

• Michigan police say ‘no question’ long-missing girl buried on farm
• Family of missing girl had ruled out suspected serial killer, until now
• Search for cold case bodies hits day 5 in Macomb Township
• Ann Arbor girl missing since 1970 tied to search at killer’s rural grave site
• Brother of missing girl shares regret as crews search for bodies in Macomb Township
• Police Search Suspected Serial Killer’s Dumping Ground
• A killer led police to a girl’s body in a shallow grave. Six more may be nearby.
• Convicted killer told police of penchant for teen girls

Flashback Friday: Cynthia Coon

This week’s Flashback Friday case is Cynthia Coon, who disappeared from Washtenaw County in southern Michigan at the age of thirteen, on January 19, 1970. So she’s been missing 43 years and counting. If she’s still alive, she’s 57 years old and quite possibly a grandmother by now.

Cynthia’s case vexes me. It’s one of those where there are juuuust enough details to intrigue you, but not enough for you to figure out what probably happened. Two and a half months after her disappearance, she called home twice — and claimed she didn’t know where she was. Then a month later her family got an “extortion type” call. And that’s all, folks. That’s all there is.

I’m not even going to hazard a guess here; I can think of several possibilities, all of them unlikely. I just figure that whatever happened to Cynthia Coon, it probably wasn’t good.