My family’s connection to a famous unsolved mystery
Here's the story of three young women who vanished from a Lake Michigan beach six decades ago.
Every family has its stories — some passed down through generations, some lost to time, and some that simply vanish without answers.
I never knew my second cousin, but her name lingers in the shadows of one of America’s great unsolved mysteries.
In 1966, Renee Bruhl — born Renee Slunecko — disappeared from a Lake Michigan beach along with two other women, leaving behind only questions and a mystery that has endured for decades.
Renee and I shared the same great-grandparents, Jan and Eva Stych. Her grandmother, Emily (Stych) Ligler, and my grandfather, Edward Stych Sr., were siblings.
Though I never met Renee, my parents mentioned her disappearance to me a couple of times. My grandparents knew her, and my father may have crossed paths with her, though I can’t say for sure.
I learned some of what I know about Renee thanks to my mother, Nancy Stych, an exceptional genealogist. Over decades, she meticulously built a family tree spanning more than 3,500 names.
When she passed away five years ago, I took over the database. I’m keeping it updated with major life events but without the deep research she once pursued.
Three young women disappear
Renee Bruhl, Ann Miller and Patricia Blough disappeared from a Lake Michigan beach 59 years ago.
Renee was 19 years old at the time of her disappearance. She was the tallest of the three women at 5 feet 9 inches, with brown hair and hazel eyes.
She had graduated from Proviso West High School in the western Chicago suburb of Maywood and later completed a one-year course at a medical-technology school in the Chicago Loop.
Renee was the only one of the three who was married. Her husband, Jeffrey, was a 21-year-old accounting student.
Police found an unmailed letter in her purse, written two weeks before her disappearance, in which she expressed a desire to leave her husband, stating that he spent too much time working on hot rods with his friends. However, she never sent the letter, and her family dismissed it as something written in the heat of the moment but never acted upon.
On the morning of July 2, 1966, Renee left her home on the 5800 block of West Fulton Street in Chicago, climbing into a car with her friends Ann Miller and Patricia Blough.
It was just after 8 a.m., and they were headed for Indiana Dunes State Park, a beloved getaway for Chicagoans seeking an escape from the city — just an hour’s drive away.
Here’s a family coincidence: My sister-in-law, Beth Ford, now lives in Beverly Shores, Indiana, a quiet Lake Michigan town that borders the park. After decades of living and working in Chicago, Beth (my wife’s sister) bought a house in Beverly Shores several years ago.
The three women set up their blanket under three poplar trees. Witnesses later reported seeing the women talking to a well-tanned man with dark, wavy hair in a small white-and-blue boat.
The women boarded the boat, leaving behind all their belongings.
That’s one of the more baffling parts of the story. Why did they leave their belongings? Did they think they were just going on a short boat ride?
Renee, who wore a brown swimsuit with a pattern of green flowers and gold leaves, left behind a large towel, her shorts, blouse, cigarettes, suntan lotion, 25 cents, and her pocketbook, which contained about $55 in checks.
As the beach grew more crowded, the women were soon forgotten, but their unattended belongings were discovered later that evening.
Park staff initially assumed they had gone on a boat ride and would return. When the women’s families reported them missing two days later, authorities launched a large-scale search.
Lots of theories
Investigators found no immediate evidence of foul play but uncovered possible personal troubles.
In addition to Renee’s unmailed letter suggesting she wanted to leave her husband, Miller, who was 21, was rumored to be pregnant and had talked about entering a home for unwed mothers.
Through their interest in horses, both Blough, who was 19, and Miller had come into contact with men who had criminal records. At one point, Blough mentioned she was in some kind of trouble involving “some syndicate people” she knew.
Despite air and water searches, interviews, and even an excavation based on a psychic’s tip, no trace of the women was ever found.
Various theories emerged, including an accidental drowning, but Renee and Blough were considered strong swimmers and Miller was considered a “fair” swimmer.
Other theories included abduction or an attempt to disappear voluntarily that ended in foul play.
Today, nearly six decades later, the mystery remains. No bodies, no confirmed sightings, no definitive answers — just speculation, theories and unanswered questions.
Were Renee and her friends lured into danger by a stranger with ill intent? Did they trust the wrong person, unaware of what awaited them?
Evil usually doesn’t wear a frightening mask. Sometimes it appears as an invitation to adventure, a moment of misplaced trust, a simple decision that cannot be undone.
In this life, we don’t always get answers. But in God’s perfect time, all things will be revealed. Until then, Renee’s story remains unfinished — with a blank spot for “Date of Death” on my Mom’s genealogy records.
Many stories have been written on this case. Here are two:
This one is from the Chicago Tribune. It’s the most comprehensive story. Click here.
This one from NBC News is shorter. Click here.