Who Lured Trusting 10-Year-Old Amy Mihaljevic To Her Death In 1989?

On October 27, 1989, Amy Mihaljevic headed to a local shopping center in Bay Village, Ohio after classes, like she had done so often in the past. Only this time, unbeknownst to her parents, the 10-year-old schoolgirl was secretly meeting a mystery man who had lured her there by asking for help buying a gift to celebrate her mom’s recent promotion at work.

Two young eyewitnesses recalled spotting the manipulative predator arrive and greet the child in front of the Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop. Mihaljevic then seemed to vanish into thin air.

As her frantic family and the police scrambled to find Mihaljevic, the terrible truth about how she was tricked into trusting someone she didn’t know began to emerge.

According to police, a mystery man had been calling local girls at home and asking them for help choosing gifts. Sadly, Mihaljevic took the bait — despite a police officer visiting her class earlier the very same day she was kidnapped and warning about stranger danger.

Her body was discovered in a remote field just over three months after she went missing.

If you have any information on the still-unsolved case, contact the Bay Village Police at 440-871-1234 or email jelish@cityofbayvillage.com.

For more on this case, stream the three-part special The Lake Erie Murders: Who Killed Amy Mihaljevic? on Max.