INKSTER, Mich. – Nadine O’dell was 16 years old when she vanished while walking to meet her boyfriend in Inkster. That was 48 years ago.
O’dell was last seen after 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 16, 1974. She was on her way to babysit at her boyfriend’s house and was taking John Daly Road.
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Her boyfriend was going to meet her at the halfway point, but when she didn’t show up he walked to her house. The search for her began, but she hasn’t been seen or heard from since.
In 2018, Brenda Lee Handloser, spoke to Local 4 about her sister’s disappearance.
“I know there’s somebody out there that knows, you know, you hear it all the time. Somebody’s seen something,” Handloser said. “And I know somebody had to of seen something.
O’dell was wearing a white t-shirt, baggy blue Jeans and her boyfriend’s high school ring on a chain around her neck. It was a white-gold Taylor Center High School class ring with a blue stone and rams on it. It had “1976″ or “76″ on it.
O’dell is one of five girls who police police believe may be linked to suspected serial killer Arthur Ream.
“I know she is dead, oh I know she is dead,” Handloser said. “Nadine wouldn’t stay away. She would not have stayed away. She would have came home to my mom.”
Handloser also spoke to Local 4 around the time crews were searching a wooded area in Macomb Township for the bodies of missing persons they suspect were linked to convicted killer Arthur Ream.
The search was in the area police found the body of 13-year-old Cindy Zarzycki, who vanished from Eastpointe in 1986. Ream was sentenced to life in prison for Zarzycki’s murder.
“I want to bring my sister home and lay her to rest. I don’t care if it is a bone or a piece of hair, a nail, I don’t care, I just want my sister. She is out there somewhere laying in the ground or wherever,” Handloser said.
Police believe these cold cases may be linked to Ream:
- The case of 12-year-old Kimberly King, from Warren, who disappeared in 1979
- The disappearance of Kellie Brownlee, from Novi, when she was 17 in 1982
- The case of Kim Larrow, who disappeared from Canton Township in 1981, when she was 15
- The case of Nadine O’Dell, from Inkster, when she was 16 in 1974
- The disappearance of Cynthia Coon, from Washtenaw County, when she was 13 in 1970
| Details | Nadine O’dell |
|---|---|
| Missing Since | Aug. 16, 1974 |
| Missing From | Inkster |
| Age Missing | 16 |
| Age Now | 64 |
| Hair | Blonde/Strawberry |
| Eyes | Green |
| Height | 5′1′' |
| Weight | 105 lbs |
Read: Michigan cold case coverage
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