DETROIT – Part of 6,000 pages of evidence in the Oakland County Child Killer case were made public under the Freedom of Information Act.
Prosecutors are being allowed to speak out about specific evidence in the case. Bombshell No. 1 involves suspect Christopher Busch. Sources tell Local 4 that Bush did not kill Mark Stebbins, Kristine Mihelich, Jill Robinson and Timothy King. Victims' family members have believed Bush could be the killer for decades.
"There isn't a piece of evidence that we can point to and say Mr. Bush killed Timothy King, Jill Robinson, Kristine Mihelich or Mark Stebbins," said Paul Walton, chief assistant Oakland County prosecutor.
It is the first time prosecutors have gone on the record to say there is zero evidence suggesting Busch is the Oakland County Child Killer. His DNA does not match the physical evidence they have.
Complete coverage: Oakland County Child Killer case
"Whatever evidence that may or may not exist does not come back to Busch," said Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper.
Police sources have told Local 4 that Busch's suicide scene is suspicious and may have actually been a murder. They know he had a drawing of a tortured boy that closely resembled victim Mark Stebbins. Ropes were found in his closest. He had a blue Vega car which looked like the infamous blue Gremlin spotted at one of the abductions.
None of that matters because investigators now tell Local 4 Busch did not commit the murders. Someone else did and that suspect is still alive. The suspect will be arrested very soon if prosecutors get the right kind of DNA match.
"When we're going in and arguing for a conviction to a jury, we're generally going in there with something referred to as autosomal DNA and that is generally DNA with statistical analysis to the 15th power," said Walton. "That is like on in a quadrillion ... 15 zeros after that."
Prosecutors can't talk about who they are seeking because it is against the law to discuss a grand jury investigation. However, listen to what prosecutors have to say and you can decide if the killer is still alive.
"We are a prosecutor's office that is looking to bring a case to the light of a courtroom for potential prosecution and to hold someone accountable," said Walton.
"They're going forward and they've made a lot of steps," said Cooper. "Momentous steps."
The prosecutors are on a manhunt for someone who is alive. They have been beefing up the task force and getting results.
"Looking at physical evidence, sending physical evidence to the lab, looking at things freshly," said Cooper.
The prosecutors also want to clear up misinformation on evidence in the case. They confirm four child victims all had white dog hair found on them, but none of the white hairs are from the same animal.
"And then when that was expanded out to potentially other suspects, there hasn't been any consistency in animal hairs other than it is white animal hair, period," said Walton.
Not only are the children not connected by the same white dog hairs, the carpet fibers believed to have been on all four victims are not necessarily from the same carpet. They are just similar in color.
"The scientists are telling me it means exactly that. It's in the same optical plane. It's in the same color scheme," said Walton.
The shotgun shell in Busch's room cannot be matched with the caliber used to kill Jill Robinson.
"They even took it to NASA to try and see if they could get an identification of the caliber and there was no way in which they could do that," said Cooper.
Prosecutors also say they have tracked down the scientist who analyzed the ropes found at the home of suspect Busch.
"He conclusively told us that he was aware of these facts and that had there been any blood on that rope or ligature he would have sent it on to the evidence unit," said Walton.
The prosecutors say the families of the victims and media outlets continuing to push Busch as the Oakland County Child Killer have misinterpreted public documents and have not seen the real evidence.
"I keep seeing things in the media that are just so wrong, so inappropriate," said Cooper.