Psychics used in 1993 investigation of Mason County teen’s death

In an interview for this series, Randall explained that the department received tips that Melissa was sighted after June 23 and that there was no reason to believe a crime had been committed. She added that when Melissa was missing, they had only done a cursory look at her bedroom.  

“We should have treated it as a crime scene, but we didn’t know … We should have done more,” Randall said.

Pentwater Police chief Laude Hartrum was a detective at the Mason County Sheriff’s Office in 1993. He explained in an interview for this series that the lack of a crime scene and the time that had elapsed after her disappearance complicated the investigation.

“Even when (the case) was fresh, it was already seven days old,” Hartrum said.

Jurisdiction

Because Melissa’s body was discovered outside of Scottville city limits, the Mason County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to respond. 

Larry Stewart was acting sheriff at the time. He retired as sheriff at the end of 2004. 

He said he had one of the best teams to have worked for the sheriff’s office.  

“Melissa Simmons is the only major case that we didn’t solve,” he said. 

Randall recalls being called to the river the day that Melissa’s body was found. 

“When I was contacted to come to where they found Melissa’s body, I was approached by Sheriff Stewart and asked what I wanted to do next. I said, ‘We need to call in the state police.’ He then went on to say that the sheriff department could handle the investigation,” Randall said. 

She said that the state police had more experience with death investigations, and that they also had investigative tools that were not available in Mason County. Randall would work the death investigation for two to three months with Hartrum and other investigators from the sheriff’s office. 
 
In interviews for this series, Melissa’s older siblings, Anita and Chet Simmons, also wonder if the investigation would have gone differently if the state police were more involved. 

Anita said she took a walk by the Pere Marquette River about a year after Melissa’s body was found. She came across a pair of jeans covered in sediment and noticed that they were Lawman jeans, the same brand of jeans she had found in Melissa’s room after her death. 

Anita said that the jeans she found in the river were given to the sheriff’s office. It is unknown if they belonged to Melissa. 

Her brother also has questions about how the initial investigation was handled. 

“I don’t want to diminish anything from the detectives.  … but best intention wasn’t enough. I hate to say it and put it that way, because I’m sure they did put a ton of man hours into this — questioned a lot of people and got a lot of false leads. But once again, if their commander-in-chief would have made the right call, they could have had even more resources to help with this investigation,” Chet said. 

Stewart explained that after a homicide occurs, an investigation becomes more difficult as the hours pass. He added that the Michigan State Police and a number of other agencies were involved as consultants and would meet to review the case and go over possible leads. 

“They would all come on a certain day. My chief detective would put out the call and they would use our conference room,” Stewart said.

Hartrum said that if the sheriff’s office needed them, the state police would have been tapped for additional manpower. According to reports provided by the Mason County Sheriff’s Office, the Michigan State Police behavioral unit created a potential profile of Melissa’s killer. 

For Hartrum, the real challenge of the case wasn’t a lack of resources, but a lack of evidence and leads. 

“At the end of the day, if you’ve got nothing to go on, you’ve got nothing to go on,” Hartrum said.  

Establishing timelines

In an interview for this series, current Mason County Sheriff Kim Cole explained that he was working as a traffic cop for the department in 1993. His knowledge of the case is based on reports, but he points out that there are two key objectives in a death investigation.

“It’s crucial that you establish timelines early on … And I think that equally important to establishing the timeline is you have to clear family members,” Cole said. 

Cole discussed one report that describes an interaction that took place between law enforcement officers and Melissa’s father Albert Simmons the day the family was notified that the body had been found.  

“Simmons was asked by Hartrum where the body had been recovered and Hatrum stated in the the P.M. River. A few minutes later, Simmons asked where Indian River was. Hartrum made notice of this because he had not mentioned that the body had been recovered near the Indian River Bridge, nor did officer Randall,” Cole read aloud from the report.

Cole mentioned there were a couple of things he thought were kind of questionable. 

“But again, maybe that stuff was cleared up later. But I don’t find it in the report,” Cole said.  

Reports obtained from a Freedom of Information Act inquiry contained summaries of interviews conducted during the investigation. These summaries were redacted to keep certain details confidential and to protect personal information. 

Summaries obtained in a Freedom of Information Act request describes interviews conducted with Al and Rosemarie Simmons, Melissa’s stepmother. 

Al and Rose reported last seeing Melissa on the night of Wednesday, June 23. On Friday, Rose said she returned home from work and realized that Melissa’s purse and robe had not moved in those two days. 

However, one report suggests that Al and Rose may have known that Melissa was missing earlier than Friday. 

In an interview with investigators, a person close to the family stated that Al called and asked if he’d seen Melissa the morning after she went missing. During their conversation, Al told this person that Melissa had not shown up for a babysitting job and was concerned she was abducted. 

During the investigation for this series, it could not be confirmed if Melissa was supposed to babysit the night she disappeared.

Al and Rose were never arrested or charged in this case. They cannot be questioned about any inconsistencies found in these reports because both died in recent years.

Looking for answers

A Ludington Daily News article from Jan. 13, 1994 features an interview with acting sheriff Stewart. The article discusses a $3,000 reward being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for Melissa’s death. 

The article also discusses the sheriff’s office use of an unorthodox resource to eliminate possibilities. 

“The family asked that we present this to a psychic,” Stewart said in a recent interview with the News Advocate. 

The Mason County Sheriff’s Office hired Noreen Renier. In an interview for this series, Renier said she is now retired, but for many years, she worked with law enforcement agencies as a psychic detective.

By last count, Renier has worked on over 500 cases. She’s also been featured on a number of TV shows including “48 Hours” and Court TV’s “Psychic Detectives.”

Renier said that her services were usually discovered through word of mouth and that it was common for law enforcement to test her accuracy. 

“It’s never 100% and I warn them. They can’t blindly accept everything I say,” Renier said. 

Renier explained that her services should only be used as a last resort, after all other investigative avenues have been exhausted. 

When asked about his experience working with Renier, Stewart said that she “told me things that were very interesting.” 

Hartrum recalls that while working as a detective on the case, the sheriff’s office tried not to leave any stone unturned. 

“We really tried not to overlook anything, and we tried not to discount anything,” Hartrum said.

Citizen detectives

The sheriff’s office was not the only one using psychics to look for answers. Melissa’s brother Chet recalls that the family had their own psychic brought in. Chet’s friend Jeremy Miller also consulted psychics. 

Miller lived about half a block away from the Simmons family in Scottville. In an interview for this series, he said that talking to phone psychics was likely part of the reason he became a suspect. 

Miller said that police told him to reach out if he had any information on the case. As the investigation went unsolved, he decided to call one of the psychics featured on late night TV. 

After the reading, Miller drove around near the Indian Bridge and found locations that matched the psychic’s description of the crime scene. 

“I thought, oh my gosh, what if this is the spot … I thought maybe I was really onto something.” Miller said. 

Miller showed detectives the site he found and not long after, he was brought in for interviews. His home and car were searched for evidence as well. Years later, Miller received a letter from a Mason County sheriff detective that stated that he was no longer considered a suspect. 

Miller continues to follow the case, searching his memory and online discussions for clues.

Tracy Muralt also follows the case.

In an interview for this series, Muralt said she was good friends with Melissa for about a year. 

Muralt has saved every news clipping she can find about the case. She has laminated them along with greeting cards and personal notes written by Melissa. 

She said that the main reason she has held on to all of these items over the years is because Melissa’s case remains unsolved. 

The week Melissa went missing, Muralt and a friend rode out to Manistee to hand out missing person fliers that the family had printed using a class photo. Muralt still has a copy of the flier. 

Muralt recalls the sense of desperation that day — how she hoped to see some sign of her friend. The same friend she swapped clothing and V.C. Andrews novels with.  

“It was hard, because the whole time, I just kind of kept watching out the window to see if I could see … anything. You know, like, if I could catch … any …,” she said. 

Melissa’s case remains open. If people have any information related to the case, they are encouraged to contact Det. Sgt. Mike Kenney at the Mason County Sheriff’s Office at 231-843-3475 ext. 136.  

The full series

Part 1: Mason County Sheriff’s Office seeking tips in 1993 cold case

Part 2: ‘A sweet girl’: Family, friends describe Scottville teen

Part 3: Few answers found in timeline of Scottville teen’s 1993 death

Part 4: Police detail investigation into teen’s 1993 death, including use of psychics