MN MN - Mary, 15, & Susan Reker, 12, St Cloud, 2 Sept 1974

Stearns County investigators are taking a new look at one of Minnesota's most notorious murder mysteries, the unsolved case of two St. Cloud girls killed 42 years ago...

Chief Deputy of the Stearns County Sheriff's office, Bruce Bechtold said they are looking at the case like it is brand new. "We haven't done any DNA analysis on any of the evidence we have for six, seven years," said Bechtold.

Among the items to be re-tested at the state’s crime lab are the clothes of Mary and Sue.

Stearns County is also putting additional investigators on the case.

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Notch worked at Zayre Shopper City said:

https://goo.gl/maps/wArcafayqco[/URL]

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Marilynilpa said:

I find it odd that 12 year old Susanne was stabbed 13 times, over twice as many wounds as Mary. From what I can tell, Susanne's body was clothed, and she was found in tall grass near the edge of the rock quarry.

15 year old Mary, who wrote in her diary that she had reason to fear for her life, was found nude
40 feet below the water and was nude. She had been stabbed 6 times.

I wonder if any of Sussnne's wounds were shallow, as if the killer had to work up the "courage" to inflict a fatal wound or wounds? And were Mary's wounds deeper and more deadly, making it unnecessary to stab her so many times? And was there any sign of sexual assault re: either girl?

I also wonder if the condition of the bodies indicated that the two girls had been there from the day of their abduction? If so, did LE have evidence that the girls were killed at the quarry, or could this have just been a dump site?

I need to read all of the posts on this thread to see if these questions have been addressed. It has been quite a while when I first posted on here.

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ELOCsoul said:

I agree on the difference in the number of stab wounds - it's quite interesting. The wounds were made with a small, double-edged knife.

Another interesting factor is the lack of defensive wounds on the bodies. Although I discount that somewhat in Susie's case, since her body was badly decomposed.

There was no obvious signs of sexual assault, but due to decomposition investigators could not be certain of that.

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Marilynilpa said:

I find it odd that 12 year old Susanne was stabbed 13 times, over twice as many wounds as Mary. From what I can tell, Susanne's body was clothed, and she was found in tall grass near the edge of the rock quarry.

15 year old Mary, who wrote in her diary that she had reason to fear for her life, was found nude
40 feet below the water and was nude. She had been stabbed 6 times.

I wonder if any of Sussnne's wounds were shallow, as if the killer had to work up the "courage" to inflict a fatal wound or wounds? And were Mary's wounds deeper and more deadly, making it unnecessary to stab her so many times? And was there any sign of sexual assault re: either girl?

I also wonder if the condition of the bodies indicated that the two girls had been there from the day of their abduction? If so, did LE have evidence that the girls were killed at the quarry, or could this have just been a dump site?

I need to read all of the posts on this thread to see if these questions have been addressed. It has been quite a while when I first posted on here.

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pleasestandby said:

<snip> It would be interesting to know what type of school supplies were so urgently needed on a non-school-day holiday that they convinced a reluctant parent to let them go or whether that was just an excuse to go meet someone. <snip>

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Boomeroreo said:

I wonder if the father had something to do with this. Because she wrote in her diary about being fear.

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zensiert said:

"...Stearns County investigators are taking a new look at one of Minnesota's most notorious murder mysteries, the unsolved case of two St. Cloud girls killed 42 years ago...

Chief Deputy of the Stearns County Sheriff's office, Bruce Bechtold said they are looking at the case like it is brand new. "We haven't done any DNA analysis on any of the evidence we have for six, seven years," said Bechtold.

Among the items to be re-tested at the state&#8217;s crime lab are the clothes of Mary and Sue."


A long time ago, the similarities of this case and the Lyon Sisters case from March, 1975 in Wheaton, MD struck me. However, I could not find anything to put Lloyd Lee Welch Jr. in St Cloud, MN in this time frame of Sept. 2, 1974. I mean, why would he be there in MN? He grew up in Hyattsville, MD. Seriously what were the chances that he would be in St. Cloud, MN, like, 10 million to one? But of all the places, all the miles, all the times, and all the infinite possibilities, he WAS there.

According to the list of persons who will give testimony in the Lyon Sisters murder trial of Lloyd Lee Welch Jr this April in Virginia, there is a woman named G. D. She says she was assaulted on August 30, 1974 in St. Cloud Minnesota at knifepoint by LLW2, before she was able to break free and run away from him.

So we know LLW2 was in St. Cloud MN on Friday. August 30 of 1974, and he had a knife.

Three days later on Monday / Labor Day, September, 2, 1974, two SISTERS Mary and Susanne Reker, ages 15 and 12 left their house around 11:15am and walked about a mile from their house to a local shopping center Zayre's store to go shopping for school supplies. They supposedly were seen talking to a creepy male, and the younger sister was overheard saying to the older sister, "I don't want to go with that man, I don't like him, let's not."

Around 6pm when they had not returned home, their parents went to the police. 26 days later their bodies were found stabbed in an abandoned quarry. Mary's clothing had been cut up into pieces.

Six months later, the Lyon Sisters disappeared from Wheaton Plaza in MD and were never seen again.

I'm having a hard time thinking this is all just a coincidence that LLW2 happened to be in St. Cloud, Minnesota, with a knife at the same time two young sisters disappeared after walking from their home to a shopping center.

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zensiert said:

"...Stearns County investigators are taking a new look at one of Minnesota's most notorious murder mysteries, the unsolved case of two St. Cloud girls killed 42 years ago...

Chief Deputy of the Stearns County Sheriff's office, Bruce Bechtold said they are looking at the case like it is brand new. "We haven't done any DNA analysis on any of the evidence we have for six, seven years," said Bechtold.

Among the items to be re-tested at the state’s crime lab are the clothes of Mary and Sue."


A long time ago, the similarities of this case and the Lyon Sisters case from March, 1975 in Wheaton, MD struck me. However, I could not find anything to put Lloyd Lee Welch Jr. in St Cloud, MN in this time frame of Sept. 2, 1974. I mean, why would he be there in MN? He grew up in Hyattsville, MD. Seriously what were the chances that he would be in St. Cloud, MN, like, 10 million to one? But of all the places, all the miles, all the times, and all the infinite possibilities, he WAS there.

According to the list of persons who will give testimony in the Lyon Sisters murder trial of Lloyd Lee Welch Jr this April in Virginia, there is a woman named G. D. She says she was assaulted on August 30, 1974 in St. Cloud Minnesota at knifepoint by LLW2, before she was able to break free and run away from him.

So we know LLW2 was in St. Cloud MN on Friday. August 30 of 1974, and he had a knife.

Three days later on Monday / Labor Day, September, 2, 1974, two SISTERS Mary and Susanne Reker, ages 15 and 12 left their house around 11:15am and walked about a mile from their house to a local shopping center Zayre's store to go shopping for school supplies. They supposedly were seen talking to a creepy male, and the younger sister was overheard saying to the older sister, "I don't want to go with that man, I don't like him, let's not."

Around 6pm when they had not returned home, their parents went to the police. 26 days later their bodies were found stabbed in an abandoned quarry. Mary's clothing had been cut up into pieces.

Six months later, the Lyon Sisters disappeared from Wheaton Plaza in MD and were never seen again.

I'm having a hard time thinking this is all just a coincidence that LLW2 happened to be in St. Cloud, Minnesota, with a knife at the same time two young sisters disappeared after walking from their home to a shopping center.

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Damarna said:

LE may be aware of the connection but then again maybe they haven't stumbled upon it. What a connection you've made! I'm thinking passing this info on might not be a bad idea?

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StarrChance said:

Just realised it may not be the correct Mary Reker as it is 1975 book, however there is also a 1974 book with her name. Also Worthington is 191 miles from St Cloud, so unlikely she went there? The Jim Wagner could be a connection though.

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ARH521 said:

Mary Reker from Worthington, MN is a first cousin of the murdered Mary Reker.

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ELOCsoul said:

As always, I wanted Websleuths to be the first to know....Rita Reker wrote the Foreword and Afterword for the book...available in both print and Kindle formats


https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1542...SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=two+sisters+missing

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B06X...etailBullets_secondary_view_div_1490188114884

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