Jan Manders can’t accept the finding that her daughter’s death was an accident. She walks away on her daughter Jennifer’s fifth birthday and declines into substance abuse and mental illness. Jennifer and her older brother, Christopher, are pretty much left to raise themselves. Jan hires a private detective, Norbert Kurczewski, to investigate Michelle’s disappearance. Kurczewski tracks down a waitress and several patrons at a restaurant in Black Earth, about 70 miles away, who say they saw Michelle there during the time she was missing.

For more information on the true crime series Unsolved: A murder mystery podcast, visit http://usatoday.com/unsolved.

For more reporting on cold cases, unsolved cases and true crime detectives, as well as additional true crime stories and investigative journalism visit witness.usatoday.com. Crime reporter and investigative reporter Gina Barton is also host of Untested: A true crime podcast, in which Annie Harrison joins the rank of true crime detectives as she solves the cold case of a possible serial rapist. Subscribe to Untested: A true crime podcast at https://art19.com/shows/untested

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