Found Deceased MI - Janet Rohrer, 13, Bay City, 26 Nov 1973

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http://www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/index.ssf/2011/11/bay_city_cold_cases_the_1973_s.html

Tuesday, November 15, 2011, 3:13 PM
By Cole Waterman | The Bay City Times

Rohrer left her home at 1309 Fremont St. the morning of Nov. 26, 1973, on her way to MacGregor Intermediate School, 1012 Fremont St.

Janet was seen through a window by a school secretary but she never made it to her 8th grade classes that day.

...hunters discovered her skeleton nearly a year later on Nov. 7, 1974, in a field in Saginaw County’s Zilwaukee Township.

Her skull bore several fractures indicative of blunt trauma
.

The investigation was reopened in 2002 but didn't lead anywhere.

More articles for those interested in Janet's case:

http://www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/index.ssf/2009/01/police_crimestoppers_team_up_t.html
January 14, 2009 by: Amy L. Payne | Booth Mid-Michigan


Rohrer, a blond-haired, blue-eyed eighth-grader at MacGregor, was an honor student active in basketball. She was seen prior to school at about 7:30 a.m. by a school secretary. After that, she vanished.

"It was very strange, for example, that Jan Rohrer's next-door neighbor, Frances Mataszewski, who resided at 1307 Fremont Ave., was found dead in a ditch off Lincoln and Russell roads about 18 months earlier," Vosler said. She had been killed by a blow to her face and nose and probably drowned in the ditch.

Another strange death involved Mataszewski's mother, who also resided at 1307 Fremont Ave. She was found dead in her bed on the same day Jan Rohrer disappeared.

about two years after Rohrer's body was found, Mataszewski's son committed suicide with a pistol in the Fremont Avenue home.

(NOTE: I can't snip anymore from the above article, it's an interesting read though).

For some reason, they changed the google archives search setup and I can't go as far back as I would like. If anyone finds other articles please post. I'm interested in this case.

Picture of Janet from first link within this posting.
 

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I agree with LE, too many deaths for them to be a coincidence. I'd really like to know the ages of the Mataszewski family members who died and also what friends and other family might say about the suicide. Was it due to grief over his mother and sisters deaths? Or something else?

I also agree someone knows. Hopefully they come forward..... Janet deserves justice and the Rohrer family deserve answers.
 
http://www.wnem.com/story/20565677/1973-slaying-of-girl-13-remains-unsolved-mystery

Posted: Jan 11, 2013 3:38 PM EST
Updated: Jan 11, 2013 3:38 PM EST
Posted By Tom Plahutnik, Web Editor/Producer - email


Photo courtesy of Bay City Police's Facebook page.
BAY CITY, MI (AP) -
As the 39th anniversary of a 13-year-old girl's disappearance arrived, her family continues seeking answers.

Jan Marie Rohrer left her Bay City home on a three-block walk to school in 1973. The remains of the blonde-haired eighth grader were found in Saginaw County's Crow Island State Game Area a year later. She'd been fatally shot.

No one has ever been charged with a crime in connection with Jan's death

Today, her brothers, Thomas K. Rohrer and William A. Rohrer III, are looking for answers and hoping for a break in the case that offers personal closure.

Thomas keeps documents and news reports related to his sister's unsolved case. He tells MLive.com (http://bit.ly/WIYa1H) "there has to be somebody out there who knows the true story and is willing to testify."
 
A transcript of an interview with one of Jan's brothers.

http://www.coveritlive.com/index2.p...sk=viewaltcast&altcast_code=a0382d69e0&ipod=y

Also, the neighbor's name was Florence Matuszewski. More about her murder here.
The body of Florence Matuszewski, 46, was found in a ditch near Lincoln and Russell roads in Portsmouth Township on Aug. 29, 1972, 15 months before Jan disappeared on Nov. 26, 1973. Police said Florence Matuszewski was bludgeoned and appeared to have drowned in the ditch. No one was ever charged in the case.

Dale Matuszewski, the only one of her three sons still living, feels he knows what led up to his mother's death.
“She was at a bar on Washington with my aunts and uncles. Something happened where they got in an argument and my mom walked home. She was on her way home, walking, and never made it," he said.
http://www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/index.ssf/2012/11/little_girl_lost_bay_city_man.html
 
That is insane. All those people dead in that short time period.
 
Wow! I know it's a little late to the discussion but wow! This all took place literally around my house! I've never heard about this case (or these cases) before. My friend used to live on Fremont. Crow Island is off of River Road/M-13 when you're on your way to Saginaw. I just looked at some maps and Lincoln and Russell Road where the other lady was found is super close to Crow Island where the girl was found. However, Russell Road doesn't connect to River Road (it stops at Lincoln) so you'd have to drive back into Bay City, hop on Broadway (you'd take Lincoln to Cass and Cass hits Broadway) and that turns into River Road. If the two roads did connect, it would be just a few minutes between both places where each of them were found. :thinking:

It's really odd that they were neighbors. That doesn't add up. Especially in Bay City. I don't know what it was like in the 70s, but murders in Bay City are not common. When it does happen, it's front page news and everyone knows about it. Now, Saginaw on the other hand isn't what I'd call the happiest place on Earth. Sadly, violent crimes that end in murder are pretty common in Saginaw.

I definitely think either case (or both) may have been done by someone (or someones) who was familiar with the Bay City area. Crow Island is not really obvious when you're driving on River Road, except I think there may be a sign. The Russell/Lincoln Road area and most of the area around it is farmland.
 
Welcome, sublimeacoustic. Thanks for the helpful background information. :)
 
Thank you! I asked my Dad who would have been a freshman around the time this took place and he had no idea that it happened either.

Also, both areas are incredibly dark at night. There are no street lights or homes in either area (there are some but a long distance away) which make both spots a little spooky. Driving down River Rd. in the summer is beautiful but at night, it's a very windy, pitch black road. Both places do make a good dumping ground. Quiet, dark and no people to see or hear anything. :notgood:
 
It's odd that your dad never heard of these crimes. How big is Bay City? Did he know any of the people or their relatives?
 
Norbert Peck and Oscar Garcia were found dead in the area in 1971 (IIRC) they were victims of a suspected serial killer, Todd Warzecha. I wonder if there could be a link between their deaths and Jan's murder?
 
Has the motorcycle gang connectiion been taken seriously? Are there still motorcycle gangs in the area?
 
the anniversary of her disappearance was just a few days ago.
 
Wow so they arrested someone who would’ve been 17 at the time of her death. Always figured it was the neighbors son who committed suicide.
 
Such a strange case, her neighbor is murdered 18 months before her. The same night she disappears the neighbors mother dies in that house of heart attack but according to an article they couldn’t rule out homicide, than two years later the neighbors son commits suicide. So much craziness!
 
Lengthy article.
Nov 25 2019
Arrest in Bay City cold case doesn’t end mystery of 13-year-old’s murder in 1974
"During his time with the case, Detective Vosler investigated another suspect named Dale W. Matuszewski, who lived next door to the Rohrers at 1307 Fremont Ave. Matuszewski was 23 when Jan disappeared and his own 48-year-old mother, Florence E. “Flossy” Matuszewski, was found in a water-filled Portsmouth Township drainage ditch on Aug. 29, 1972. Her death certificate lists her cause of death as “asphyxia probably due to drowning” with a “compound fracture of the nose.”

No arrests were made or charges issued in that case.

Vosler suspected the two deaths were connected. MLive interviewed Dale Matuszewski in 2012 and he denied involvement in either killing, adding he still wanted justice for his mother.

Dale Matuszewski died of sepsis at McLaren Bay Region hospital on April 5, 2019, at age 68.

HT4VHCLHSRDZBL3PGNF3RNE5DE.jpg

A map of sites related to the disappearance of Jan Rohrer and the subsequent discovery of her remains.

Where the matter stands

Contacted by MLive in late October, Prosecutor Borushko said she is not giving any comment on the matter “at this time.”

Police had this to say:

“The state police has completed all follow up requests by the prosecutor’s office and turned it back over to them,” MSP Lt. Kaiser said. “We have done everything the prosecutor has asked. We have completed everything. There is nothing outstanding, nothing left for us to do. There is nothing on the table.”

He said investigators last checked in with Borushko on the matter in August and no decision had yet been made on whether to charge the suspect.

“It’s not in our court,” Kaiser said. “It’s back with the prosecutor’s office awaiting a decision.”

Police have contacted Thomas Rohrer, who lives in Gratiot County, to ask if he’d object to an exhumation of Jan’s remains. Rohrer said he and his brother Bill Rohrer had no objection, though no exhumation has occurred.

For Jan’s family, the news that a suspect had finally been arrested is an encouraging development.

“We were very heartened by the fact that they had a suspect that was arrested and had in fact been talking to the police,” said Tom Rohrer.

Any reassurance from the arrest soon gave way to frustration, Rohrer said.

“It’s extremely disappointing to be here today over a year after his arrest and his admissions and to have no action going forward on the prosecution of the case,” he said.

Rohrer said he and his brother Bill, 65, of Ann Arbor, met with Borushko once in person, prior to the suspect’s arrest. Since then, he says he’s left dozens of phone messages with her, but not received a return call, he said. Borushko said she had no comment on those claims.

Asked if he knew or remembered the suspect himself, their family residences being so close, Rohrer said only vaguely.

“He was an odd, quiet kid,” he said. “We knew they were there, but we didn’t have any friendships or socialization with them at all. We didn’t have a linkage with the family.”

As Thanksgiving approaches, it renews the sense of loss for the Rohrers.

“We think about her all the time,” said Thomas Rohrer. “We think about her every year at her birthday in June, how old she’d be now. At holidays, with her not around. We wonder what kind of family she’d have. Thanksgiving is always a bittersweet holiday for us. It’s been a tough time for us, 40-some years now.”

Despite the seeming impasse the case has reached, Rohrer remains optimistic something will be done for his sister.

“I’m still hopeful we’ll get some resolution and justice for Jan,” he said. “That’s what our family is after — justice for Jan.”

 

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