The Haunting Disappearance of Paige Renkoski
A woman is seen along the side of a highway talking to an unidentified man before vanishing. Hours later, her car is found abandoned, still running, and with her purse and shoes inside.
Daytime Abduction?
On the afternoon of May 24th, 1990, 30-year-old Paige Renkoski was on her way home after dropping her mother off at the airport. But she would never make it there.
Multiple eyewitnesses placed her on the side of the highway around 3 p.m., talking to an unidentified man. Some reports indicated that as many as three men were there and that Paige appeared upset. A red minivan was seen parked near her car.
A few hours later, her vehicle would be found still running, with the headlights on. Her purse and shoes were inside, but there was no sign of Paige herself anywhere. Her family said that she’d never stop her car for a stranger, but the men she was seen with that day have never been identified or located.
Upon examination, her car appeared to be in working order and still had gas, which caused further confusion as to why she had pulled over.
Some aspects of this case continue to defy explanation and many questions have never been answered.
The most important of which: What happened to Paige Renkoski?
Paige Marie Renkoski
One of four daughters, Paige Marie Renkoski was born on February 2nd, 1960, in Lansing, Michigan, to parents Ardis and Carl. Fun-loving and upbeat, Paige enjoyed putting on plays in the basement when she was growing up. She had a close relationship with her family, especially her mother Ardis.
As she got older, she worked as a model for a local department store and was even featured in a fashion show that had been sponsored by Seventeen Magazine. Paige eventually decided that her true passion was education and she went on to work as a substitute teacher at Educational Child Care Center in Lansing.
“Paige was a sweetheart who lectured my kids about not getting in cars with strangers,” said neighbor Linda Remington. “She was like my kid, their sister.”
"She was hysterically funny," her sister Michele remembered. "She had an incredible sense of humor and was very dramatic. She was involved in drama — theater, singing and music — not life drama. She was a very talented singer and not a shy person."
In 1990, she and her fiancé, Steve DeBrabander, had been together for three years and were planning to get married in November of that year. They lived together in DeWitt Township. Reportedly, the two had been having problems in their relationship that spring, but were committed to working through them.
An Upset Paige is Spotted With an Unknown Man
Around 11:30 a.m. on May 24th, 1990, Paige dropped Ardis off at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport. Afterwards, she met with a friend in Canton, Michigan. They spent time together in Griffin Park before Paige departed.
She made another stop along the way—at a store—where she purchased a 40-ounce bottle of beer and a magazine. The clerk remembered her because of her colorful outfit.
She was wearing “distinctive multi-colored, loose-fitting, flower-patterned pants and a distinctive necklace,” he recalled.
The remainder of the sightings of Paige that day would take place on the shoulder of Interstate-96, near Fowlerville (around 30 miles away from her home), where she was spotted talking to someone. Between 3-3:30 p.m. she was seen speaking with a Black man, who was said to be 20-30 years old.
As many as ten motorists reported having noticed this interaction. In some accounts, there were two or even three men there. A maroon—or another shade of red—minivan had been parked near her car along the side of the road.
Paige appeared to be upset, according to some eyewitnesses, and the man put a hand on her shoulder, possibly in an attempt to comfort her. She was allegedly seen being guided by him towards the minivan at one point.
One motorist who had seen Paige around 3:30 p.m. was concerned when he noticed on his way home a few hours later that her vehicle was still there—but she no longer was.
Depending on the source, a deputy arrived on the scene at anywhere from 6-7:30 p.m. and found Paige’s 1986 Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais idling on the shoulder of the highway, with the headlights on. He saw her shoes on the floor inside the car. Additionally, her purse (which still contained her money) and an open bottle of beer in a paper bag were in the vehicle.
Oddly, though, the deputy didn’t think this was concerning and simply had the car towed. There was nothing wrong with the Oldsmobile and it still had gas. Some newspapers stated that the front end had minor damage (so minor, apparently, that it’s not noticeable in pictures), but no overt signs of an accident.
When she didn’t come home, Steve grew worried and went looking for her. When he couldn’t locate her, he called Ardis and one of Paige’s sisters, but they didn’t know where she was either. So he reported her missing.
Ardis:
“I just knew that something was very, very wrong and when they called me about midnight and said they found the car, I was numb. Absolutely numb.”
Once the authorities realized that the Oldsmobile belonged to the missing 30-year-old, it was finally processed as a potential crime scene. There was neither blood nor signs of a struggle present, but they did find multiple fingerprints and palm prints inside that to this day have never been identified.
Detective Ed Moore:
“There were no signs of a struggle or anything else. We just don’t have the foggiest idea what happened. We can’t speculate at all because we don’t know enough. We have talked to her fiancé as well as several other people, and we feel the circumstances are real suspicious.”
Who Were the Men?
Those closest to Paige agreed that she wouldn’t have pulled over for a stranger.
“Not unless it was somebody she knew,” said Steve. “She’s smarter than that.”
However, law enforcement theorized that someone might have flashed a fake badge to scare her into stopping, as that kind of behavior had been an issue in the area.
But why were her headlights on in the middle of the day? Her hazard lights were off and, as previously stated, her car seemed to be fine. And why would she leave her shoes behind?
Steve was quickly ruled out as a suspect, as his alibi (he was playing a softball game that afternoon) checked out.
Paige’s family and Steve, with the assistance of 150 volunteers, distributed thousands of missing persons posters with her picture on it to multiple states. Law enforcement put out composite sketches of the men seen with the missing woman that day, as well as attempted to locate the red minivan, but these efforts yielded no results, unfortunately.
No sign of Paige turned up anywhere. There was no further activity on her Social Security card, and none of the money in her bank account—including a large sum that she’d deposited shortly before vanishing—has ever been touched.
"We miss our Paige very much,” said Ardis. “I hope they can bring my little girl home."
But in the absence of solid leads, her case began to grow cold.
Nearly two decades later, in 2009, investigators revealed that they have six potential suspects—one of whom was murdered in 1999. (Interestingly, this unnamed man allegedly owned a burgundy minivan at one point as well.)
Suspects & Other Cases
Eight other women had either vanished or been murdered in southeastern Michigan within two years of Paige’s disappearance. Investigators wondered if there might be a connection between these cases. It was later determined that at least four of these women were the victims of serial killer Leslie Allen Williams, who is currently serving a life sentence in prison.
However, it was impossible for Williams to have abducted Paige, as he was in prison when she vanished. In a bizarre coincidence, his (unnamed) cellmate was considered a suspect in her case, though, and it’s unclear if this person was ever definitively ruled out.
Another prisoner whose identity has never been revealed—a convicted rapist—was also looked at as a person of interest.
One case in particular stood out to investigators, as it bore some eerie similarities to the circumstances of Paige’s disappearance. In September 1989, the body of 30-year-old Beverly Wivell was discovered along the side of a road in Canton Township. She had been raped and shot to death. Her vehicle was found abandoned and running, with her purse still inside.
Another detail that law enforcement found significant was that both women had gone to the same park shortly before they went missing.
“Both of them appeared to be in the area of Griffin Park. That’s one of the last things they did in public.”
Had someone pursued Paige after spotting her at the park? Could this be what had happened to Beverly as well?
Beverly’s case went cold for many years, but finally had a major development in 2024. Forensic genealogical testing on the DNA that had been recovered from her body led them to a man named Buster Robbins, who has since been charged with her rape and murder.
Although it’s important to note that Robbins doesn’t resemble the man (or either of the other men who were supposedly there) who was witnessed speaking to Paige that day and it remains unknown if he has any connection with her disappearance.
Mysterious Map & Searches
In January 1999, the police department received an anonymous tip in the form of a hand-drawn map which claimed to show the location of Paige’s body. A search of the area in Conway Township was conducted, using ground-penetrating radar, but yielded no clues.
However, the authorities decided to revisit the site years later, in 2011, this time with cadaver dogs in tow. The dogs hit on two spots and a resolution in Paige Renkoski’s case finally seemed within reach.
The return to Conway Township had been inspired by another tip.
"It was the daughter of this guy who actually called us and said … ‘My stepfather could be a suspect.’ So, now it gives us some new leads, some new information to go on," Sheriff Bob Bezotte said.
But ultimately, they did not find her remains. Still, it’s interesting and seems of possible significance that two different tips led them to the same general area.
The Search for Paige Continues
Paige’s loved ones never gave up on trying to find her. Losing her was a devastating blow to them.
“I think there are more good people than bad people,” Steve said. “But it only takes one or two bad people to ruin your life.”
Ardis took the pain of losing her daughter and tried to channel it into something positive. She became an advocate for victims and their families, and was a leader and program coordinator for the mid-Michigan chapter of Parents of Murdered Children, Inc. She was also an active member of the group Missing in Michigan.
Sadly, Carl and Ardis Renkoski have since passed away, in 1994 and 2017, respectively. The Renkoski family honored both Ardis and Paige in a dual memorial service in 2017.
To this day, Paige Renkoski has never been located and her fate remains unknown. Her case is still open and active.
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