Deanie Peters disappearance remains a mystery after 27 years

By Emily Zangaro

LOWELL, Mich. (WOOD) -- On the banks of the Flat River just north of Lowell is a plot of land formerly known at the Young Marines Camp. It hasn't been used for years, but it continues to draw the attention of police detectives.

Toni Schaefer and her husband currently own 13 acres of the property, and detectives first came to their house about nine years ago, searching for clues that may lead them to Deanie Peters, the 14-year-old who vanished 27 years ago.

Police "say they continue to get tips over the years steadily and that's why they always come back," Schaefer told 24 Hour News 8. Their ground has been dug up in multiple spots, including "behind where that rock is."

Deanie -- whose given name is Dean Marie Pyle -- disappeared Feb. 5, 1981 from her brother's wrestling practice at Forest Hills Central Middle School. She told her mom she was going to use the restroom.

She hasn't been seen since.

About two months ago, Schaefer got another call from cold case investigators who wanted to check out ground near a flag pole. Detective Sgt. Sally Wolter is part of the Kent County team that reopened the Deanie Peters case in March.

Over the years, Wolter said, consistent tips have led detectives to a couple different locations in Lowell, including the Young Marines Camp and an abandoned schoolhouse five miles north of the city.

"We have approximately 1,500 people that we need to sit down and talk with," Wolter said. "That's an uphill battle."

In the weeks after Peters disappeared, her mother and stepfather - plus the entire community - searched everywhere. Sources close to the early investigation said tips led them all over. A janitor at Central Middle School was an early suspect, then a death-row inmate in Florida. Investigators used psychics, hypnotized a student and sent her dental records to other states.

In the 1990s, Bruce Bunch became a suspect. The Lowell man was a teen at the time Peters disappeared, and the theory was Bunch hit her with a car and buried her body.

Joe Fallstrom, who only knew Bunch through friends, said he overheard Bunch talking about Peters at a drinking party. "He was haunted by the chains clanging on the maypole behind the schoolhouse where he claims to have buried her," Fallstrom told 24 Hour News 8.

The tide turned on Fallstrom for a period. "I was a person of interest, they said to me." But he maintains his innocence. "They'll never find any factual evidence to link me to her because there is none."

Bunch moved to Kentucky years ago, and detectives never traveled to re-interview him. He died in February of this year.

On the 20th anniversary of her disappearance, a retired detective told 24 Hour News 8 the sheriff's department refused badly-needed help from outside agencies, and only polygraph-tested one potential suspect, but never asked those closest to Peters to take a test.

Now, Wolter said, "We don't concentrate on the roadblocks then because the roads are open for us now."

But there are no formal suspects, only persons of interest, she said.

Goal No. 1 is to speak with everyone who was there the night of February 5, 1981 when Peters disappeared. So put yourself back to the time and place. Were you here? And if so, what did you see? What you think is an insignificant fact may be the piece detectives need to help crack this case.

You are asked to call the Kent County Cold Case Team at (616) 632-6123 if you know anything about Peters' disappearance.