Still Missing MI - Krista Lueth, 34, Lansing, 11 Nov 2008 *arrest*

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I hope that they are able to find answers for her family.


http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20090930/NEWS01/309290035

Police investigate MSU student's disappearance as homicide

Midday update

Kevin Grasha
kgrasha@lsj.com

UPDATED 4:20 PM - Police said today for the first time that the disappearance last year of a 34-year-old Michigan State University student is being investigated as a homicide.

Krista Lueth was last seen Nov. 11, 2008 at the house she rented in the 1100 block of Eureka Street in Lansing.

It is believed she left the house that night between 6:30 p.m. and 7 p.m, possibly wearing a long black coat. Investigators do not know where she was going. Her body has not been found.

“We are treating it as a homicide investigation,” said state police Detective First Lt. Dan Pekrul, who is heading a team of investigators working on the case. “We just need more pieces of the puzzle. Who saw her and where, after she left her (home) on Nov. 11.”

Lueth’s father, Roy, said today that he is hoping for a break in the case. The 67-year-old St. Clair man called Krista his best friend.

“Whoever did this has talked to someone,” he said. “Somebody out there knows something or has seen something.”

Up to $15,000 in reward money is now being offered to anyone who provides information that leads to an arrest and conviction.

Anyone with information is urged to call Michigan State Police at 322-1907 or CrimeStoppers at 483-STOP.
 
Here are a few more current articles about investigating her disappearance as a homicide:

http://www.statenews.com/index.php/article/2009/10/msu_students_disappearance_now_listed_as_homicide

http://www.wlns.com/Global/story.asp?S=11234192


This article discusses that the police now think that she was killed and that it was not a random act:

http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20091001/NEWS01/910010337

October 1, 2009

Missing woman believed killed

Police: Slaying of MSU student, 34, who vanished last Nov. not random

Kevin Grasha
kgrasha@lsj.com

Roy Lueth wants the chance to bury his daughter, who disappeared last November and who police now say was the victim of a homicide.

For the first time since 34-year-old Krista Lueth was reported missing, police said Wednesday they believe someone killed her and that it was not a random act.

The Michigan State University student's body has never been found. Investigators hope publicity about the case leads to tips or new information.

"If they could just get a break, we could at least put her to rest," Roy Lueth said.

"Whoever did this has talked to someone," he added. "Somebody out there knows something. Or has seen something."

Up to $15,000 in reward money is now being offered to anyone who provides information that leads to an arrest and conviction.

Krista Lueth was last seen Nov. 11, 2008 at the house she rented in the 1100 block of Eureka Street in Lansing.

It is believed she left the house that night between 6:30 p.m. and 7 p.m, possibly wearing a long black coat. Investigators do not know where she was going.

Her father, who lives in St. Clair, said he has been trying to figure that out since he reported her missing four days later.

Detective First Lt. Dan Pekrul, who is heading a team of Michigan State Police investigators working on the case, said they have identified a person of interest. He would not say how the person knew Lueth.

Pekrul said investigators are trying to find anyone who might have seen Lueth - who had long brown hair and blue eyes - the evening of Nov. 11.

Maybe someone saw a woman fitting her description crying or involved in an argument, he said.

"We just need more pieces of the puzzle," he said. "Who saw her, and where, after she left her (home)."

Police also are asking hunters and others who are out in area woods and fields to be on the lookout for clothing or a coat that seems out of place. That could lead to her body.

"We want them to keep this case in the back of their minds and contact law enforcement," Pekrul said.

Roy Lueth said he has filled his home with Krista's things, including souvenirs and photographs from places they visited - Chicago, Niagara Falls, South Africa.

He called Krista, who he raised on his own since she was about 12, his best friend.

She was working on a second bachelor's degree, in horticulture, and was planning to attend graduate school in that field.

When she left her home the evening of Nov. 11, she locked the door, leaving her cat inside, according to friends. An overhead light was left on in the living room and she left a pan of food on the stove, covered by a plate.

"She went with someone she trusted," Roy Lueth said.
Additional Facts
Phone tips

• Anyone with information is urged to call Michigan State Police at 322-1907 or CrimeStoppers at 483-STOP (7867).
 
Bump

Just found this and wondered about it.. I tried googling and only came up with articles form 2008.... how can people just be forgotten like that? So sad.
RIP Krista (LE says she's victim of a homicide)
 
I have followed this one from the beginning in my lurking days...
As I posted in another... what keeps happening to all these young women???
I wish there was closure for her best friend... Krista where are you? :(
 
Still missing.

http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/local/2014/10/15/k-reward-cold-case/17317307/

Some former members of the Michigan State Police Major Case Unit, which was disbanded in 2012, are now working on the investigation. Those former members were assigned to the agency's First District, which includes Clinton, Eaton and Ingham counties.

"One of the first things we did is take a hard look at this case," said Detective Sgt. Tom DeClerq. He said other detectives who had been involved in the investigation suggested they look into it.
Click to expand...
 
I hadn't heard of this case before (and I'm fairly local) - tonight a few of my friends posted on Facebook the following YouTube videos (2 parts) about Krista Lueth. Searched WS to find her thread so I could post this for you all:

Crime Watch Daily: College Student Krista Lueth - Part 1 (YouTube link)

Crime Watch Daily: Confrontation with Suspect in Lueth Disappearance - Part 2 (You Tube Link)
 
This disappearance must not have gotten much press coverage. I live an hour away, and this is the first I've learned about it.
 
BREAKING.. includes video.
Jan 6 2021
BREAKING: Man charged in cold case murder of MSU student 6 years later | WLNS 6 News
''Lansing, Mich. (WLNS) — Breaking News this afternoon 6 News as learned exclusively that a warrant has been issued for the arrest of the prime suspect in a cold case disappearance and presumed death of a Michigan State University student.

53-year-old Brad Cournaya who is already behind bars on an unrelated criminal conviction is now facing charges of open murder in the unsolved case involving Krista Lueth.

Lueth went missing on October 2014. At the time, she was Cournaya’s girlfriend.''

''Assistant Ingham Count Prosecutor Bill Crino tells 6 News Cournaya will be arraigned within 7-14 days of the charges being filed.

<<<Stay with 6 News for updates on this unsolved cold case.''


53-year-old Brad Cournaya
Lansing State Journal
 
COLD CASE: Mason man charged with 2008 murder of missing MSU student

-lsjbrd10-24-2013lsj1a00120131023imgkristalueth.jpg11gk5fqmne.jpg


A longtime suspect in the murder of a missing Michigan State University student more than a decade ago has been charged with her murder.
---
Police declared her disappearance a homicide in September 2009, and in 2014, named Brad Cournaya as the sole suspect. Cournaya and Lueth had recently broken up, but her father told the State Journal in 2008 it wasn't clear what led to the break up.

Cournaya, 53, was charged last month with Lueth's murder. Lueth's body was never found.
---
Lueth's father said after the breakup, Lueth had complained about Cournaya calling her constantly.

Cournaya is in prison serving 16 to 40 years for showing a child an obscene photo of himself and a sex video, and showing her messages on his phone asking if she wanted to make money.
---
Now-retired Michigan State Police Detective Sgt. Tom DeClercq told the State Journal in 2014 that cellphone records showed Cournaya was the last person Lueth called Nov. 11. He also was in the area of her Lansing home, DeClercq said.
---
The same night, a sheriff's deputy assisted Cournaya after his truck broke down on southbound U.S. 127 near College Road, DeClercq said. When police searched that area several months later, they found Lueth's driver's license, bank card and the cellphone she had been using the day she disappeared.

Police questioned Cournaya several times prior to his reveal as the prime suspect in 2014, DeClercq said, and Cournaya was "untruthful as to his whereabouts."
---
Cournaya is in prison serving a 16 to 40 year sentence for sex trafficking of a minor and using a computer to commit a crime.

At his sentencing hearing in 2017, Assistant Ingham County Prosecutor Bill Crino said Cournaya has "almost no rehabilitative potential."

"We have a defendant who stands before you here today who has a lifelong adult criminal history of violent sexual crimes against women and children," he said.
---
At 18, Cournaya was charged with breaking into a Mason woman's apartment and raping her while he brandished a knife. In 1986, he was sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison.

Two months after his release, in August 2000, he assaulted a female relative, according to court records. He pleaded guilty to second-degree child abuse and was sentenced to four to eight years in prison.

COLD CASE: Mason man charged with 2008 murder of missing MSU student
 
Krista Robin Lueth
  • krista_robin_lueth_1.jpg
    krista_robin_lueth_2.jpg
    krista_robin_lueth_3.jpg
  • krista_robin_lueth_4.jpg
    krista_robin_lueth_6.jpg
Lueth, circa 2008; Brad Cournaya

  • Missing Since 11/11/2008
  • Missing From Lansing, Michigan
  • Classification Endangered Missing
  • Sex Female
  • Race White
  • Date of Birth 05/02/1974 (46)
  • Age 34 years old
  • Height and Weight 5'4, 125 pounds
  • Clothing/Jewelry Description Possibly a long black coat. She usually wears jeans, sweaters or sweatshirts, sturdy shoes and sometimes a head scarf. Possibly carrying a three-ring binder.
  • Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, blue eyes. Lueth has a large tattoo of an infinity symbol on the small of her back, and a three-quarter-inch birthmark which is possibly on her upper left arm. Her ears are pierced and she wears an upper denture plate.
Details of Disappearance

Lueth was last seen at her rented house in the 1100 block of Eureka Street in Lansing, Michigan on November 11, 2008. She was getting a second bachelor's degree in horticulture at Michigan State University; her previous degree was in botany. She disappeared after she took the bus home from class.

Lueth was subletting an apartment on the floor below her to a friend, and spoke to him between 5:30 and 6:00 p.m. She was concerned because she'd broken up with her live-in boyfriend and he had just moved out, so her rental costs would increase. She said she planned to sell her truck and take a part-time waitress job to make ends meet.

Lueth's friend said she seemed happy during the conversation. After she left her friend's apartment, he didn't hear any noise from upstairs. She was supposed to attend at 6:30 p.m. class at a greenhouse half a mile from home, but never showed up. She has never been heard from again.

Lueth's family reported her missing after they couldn't get in touch with her and all the calls to her phone went to voice mail; this is uncharacteristic of her. She left her cat locked inside her apartment, as well as a covered pot of food on the stove. It looked as if she had stepped out and planned to return within a short time, but never did.

Her loved ones describe her as a reliable, responsible woman who wouldn't have abandoned her pet or left without warning. She was a very good student and planned to apply to a graduate program at Cornell University.

Lueth's ex-boyfriend, Brad Cournaya, is the prime and only suspect in her disappearance. A photo of Cournaya is posted with this case summary.

Several months after she was last seen, Lueth's driver's license, debit card and cellular phone were found along U.S. 127 south of Lansing, in the same area where Cournaya's truck broke down the night Lueth disappeared. Cournaya is also the last person Lueth is known to have called.

He has convictions for rape, child abuse and violating his sex offender registry requirements, and in 2017 he was convicted of trafficking a minor for commercial sexual activity. He was sentenced to 17 to 40 years in prison; the prosecution said he had "almost no rehabilitative potential," and the judge agreed that "rehabilitation is not likely."

Lueth attended St. Clair High School and later St. Clair County Community College. Her family believes foul play was involved in her disappearance, and the police also believe she was murdered. Her case remains unsolved.

Link - Krista Robin Lueth – The Charley Project
 
Tuesday, Ingham County District Court Judge Donald Allen determined there was probable cause for Brad Cournaya, Lueth's ex-boyfriend, to stand trial for her murder.

Allen said he watched the video of one of Cournaya's first interviews with police after Lueth's disappearance several times.

“Not once during the course of that did I see a person who seemed to be disturbed about the disappearance of Krista," Allen said. "He didn't even bother to phone her again after November 11 which suggests to me he knew she was not going to be answering that phone."
Expert: Proving MSU student's murder with no body hard, not impossible
 
www.mlive.com

15 years after MSU student disappeared, her ex-boyfriend is on trial for her murder

Brad Cournaya has been the sole suspect in the death of Krista Lueth for nearly a decade. Tuesday, more than two years after he was charged with her murder, he faced a jury.
www.mlive.com www.mlive.com

Brad Cournaya has been the sole suspect in the death of Krista Lueth for nearly a decade.

Tuesday, June 13, more than two years after he was charged with her murder, he faced a jury.
 
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