Families of missing and murdered people who have been waiting for answers, sometimes for decades, are seeing a new push for results.

Michigan State Police said they have around 200 open cold cases at any given time, and with September being National Cold Case month, they're working to get these cases the attention they deserve.


There is a lot of interest in true crime right now and Michigan State Police are trying to take advantage of that interest by launching a website to highlight some cold cases.

The website only has 11 cases so far, but Michigan State Police said they're planning on adding more.

MSP Detective Sergeant Larry Rothman said the cases were hand-picked by detectives and that they reached out to family members to make sure they want their loved one's cases listed.

 Our big focus is victim-centered and everything that we do, we wanna put the victim and the victim's family first and foremost,  Detective Sergeant Larry Rothman with Michigan State Police said.

---> Find more Michigan Cold Case coverage here.

Ruth Postif

Ruth Postif (Michigan State Police)

Ruth Postif was was 17 years old when she disappeared on October 18, 1973.

She left her Dearborn home to drive to the mall. Two days after she vanished, her vehicle was found in a wooded area between Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor. More than 200 volunteers helped search for her.

Her body was found more than three weeks later by a hunter in a muddy field 20 miles West of her home.

She had been stabbed to death.

Mary Alice Ellicott

Mary Alice Ellicott (Michigan State Police)

Mary Alice Ellicott was last seen between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. on October 11, 1981, leaving the Polar Bear restaurant (now Thompson's Bar   Grill) in Saline Township.

Her body was found nearly two weeks later in a grassy field about one and a half miles from the restaurant.

She was well-known at the bar. She had quit a job as a bartender there a week earlier, according to the Associated Press.

Her death was ruled a homicide.

Alcona Dam Jane Doe

Jane Doe (Michigan State Police)

This woman was found dead on October 26, 1994. She 

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