By: Sherri Kolade | Farmington Press | Published June 15, 2016

Debra Rentschler


FARMINGTON — It’s been 36 years.

That’s more than 13,140 days and three decades since 18-year-old Debra Rentschler’s body was found in Farmington on Christmas Eve morning, 1980.

She was discovered nude near Grand River and Drake — on the property of an auto supply company — by an employee.

“We firmly believe the location (where) her body was found was where the murder occurred,” Farmington Public Safety Director Frank Demers said in his office June 7. He added that he believes someone from Farmington might have committed the murder.

“That area of Grand River and Drake, in 1980, was very secluded from the roadway area if you weren’t familiar with it,” he said.

While some may consider her murder to be a cold case, Demers said that he and his team — with the help of local and state investigators — will continue the hunt for the murderer.

In the meantime, her file will continue to grow.

“We’ve got cases of stuff,” he said of Rentschler’s file. “You talk to somebody, you meet with a partner; they have a name or you get information from (the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program) and that stacks reams of paper. It doesn’t matter — we can have an office room full of paperwork and that is not going to stop us (from) sifting.”

Demers is hoping to find answers to what happened on the night of Rentschler’s disappearance. He also hopes a photo of her standing next to two women — a few months before her disappearance around the summer of 1980— will solve a piece of the puzzle. Demers said that he would like either of the two women in the photo to contact his department to provide any information regarding her disappearance.

Demers also believes the two women lived in Detroit at the time.

“No one knew Debra except the people on the street,” he said. “I’m hoping people see this picture and recognize the two ladies here. That is kind of where we are at with this case right now.”

The woman behind the photo

Rentschler did not have the easiest upbringing. Her mother died while she was young, and she lived with an allegedly abusive father, Demers said, in addition to spending a lot of time in the juvenile justice system.

Rentschler was a heroin addict and a prostitute.

Rentschler, whose load was heavy, never made it across the stage to graduate high school.

She did, however, cross a street. And that was the last time she was seen alive, Demers said.

Rentschler — who frequented the Seven Mile and Woodward area, particularly Seward, in Detroit — lived at the nearby Euclid Hotel at that time.

“That night in the early morning hours of Dec. 24, she was with her boyfriend (also her pimp). They were having a late meal, and she decided … to go out and try to make some money,” Demers said.

It was around 2 a.m. when she walked out of that restaurant and crossed the street.

“He (the boyfriend) turned for a moment, and (she) was gone,” Demers said. “He assumed she found a date.”

Shortly after that, the Public Safety Department received a call on her death.

Demers said that while Farmington launched its own investigation, several hours later, the Detroit Police Department received a report from Rentschler’s boyfriend about her disappearance.

“We started our investigation trying to identify her,” Demers said, adding that Farmington investigators initially put out a press release and spoke to local news agencies about Rentschler.

Demers added that Rentschler’s boyfriend was cleared of any involvement through interviews and speaking with him and establishing his alibi.

Cause of death

The investigation hit what Demers called a “tremendous roadblock” when the Oakland County medical examiner stated that Rentschler’s cause of death was not due to a homicide.

“He determined that she did not die of strangulation, blunt-force trauma, or anything out of the ordinary — but acute drug overdose,” Demers said. “Essentially, her prolonged use of drugs was the contributing factor of her death.”

Demers said that the problem with that pronouncement of her cause of death is that police need the medical examiner to “lay a foundation” to build their case on.

“We didn’t have that,” he said, adding that it took almost a year and a half to appeal to Oakland County for a second autopsy. They got their wish, and her body was exhumed.

“The second autopsy (was) ruled a homicide and likely (due to) strangulation.”

Demers added that granting appeal for another autopsy is “not normal.”

“It happens from time to time — very rare in Oakland County,” he said.

Although they had a major break in the case, after that, the tips dried up and there was not a lot of information to go on.

Subsequent murders — one unsolved for decades until recently — have occurred in the city, but Demers can count them on one hand.

“I’ve been here 20 years — we’ve probably had four (murders) in my 20-year career here,” Demers said. “It kind of speaks for itself. It’s a tremendously safe city. But, typically, the homicides we do have are not random homicides. They are either domestic or the offender was known to the victim in some way, shape or form.”

That day, his public safety director hat rested on a file cabinet near his desk. On the cabinet was an obituary for 29-year-old Kaitlin Hehir, who died at the hands of her boyfriend, William Dhondt, in 2013.

“That was a tough one,” Demers said of Hehir, who worked for the local courthouse. “She left a lot of friends and loved ones behind. We’ve had some tragic homicides. Certainly not random acts.”

The next chapter

“It’s easy to say this was just an 18-year-old prostitute (and) drug addict,” Demers said of Rentschler. “Her life had value. She could have turned things around.”

He added that her murder case did not receive a lot of coverage like a lot of high-profile cases normally do. But with the picture of her standing next to two other women, he hopes to find the exposure he is looking for.

Demers added that he hopes that when residents read Rentschler’s story, they recall that December over 30 years ago and think about anything unusual they might have noticed in Farmington and contact the police.

“It comes down to a person,” he said, adding that it was Christmastime, and people typically remember memorable events and the seemingly insignificant details surrounding them. “Maybe someone remembers something strange in the early hours of Grand River and Drake in 1980. A lot of times, it’s just that small little thing that could lead to (a) big break in the case.”

Rentschler’s story has never truly gone away or been forgotten.

People like Nina Innsted hope to keep it that way until Rentschler’s killer is found.

Innsted, writer and producer of a new podcast series, “The Already Gone Podcast,” which features cold cases and stories of the missing, discussed Rentschler on her latest episode.

“My interest in the case is that Debra had a difficult life and it ended in a brutal manner,” she said in an email statement. “The person who did this to her should be brought to justice. I believe that someone knows who did this to her. Farmington public safety wants to close this case. They want to bring her killer to justice, but they need help. They need information. I find it heartening to know that law enforcement at all levels is interested in bringing justice.”

“It’s all about bringing closure to the family,” Demers added.

For more information on the podcast, go to www.alreadygonepodcast.com. To contact the Farmington police with any tips on Rentschler’s case, call (248) 474-4700.