People are hitting me up for their 50th “anniversary” projects and I can tell from traffic on my site that others are doing the same without hitting me up. That’s fine. Work on your retread, your rehash or your new angles. Good luck getting any comment or information about what law enforcement has done since 2019 or where this case sits now. Good luck getting anybody in LE on the record in this case for any update. I maintain their silence is a massive, continuing “fuck you” to the known four dead kids in this case. So is a rehash of the sad, sad times in 1976 and 1977. Four beautiful faces and then cut to the body dump scenes.
Thinking people want to know WTH has gone on in this case since 2019?!
Here’s an example of one of the “lockdown” mechanisms the state police have going in this case. (Other agencies and people who have touched the case and moved on have their own methods, but this one is a whopper.)
Last October a reader forwarded to me correspondence with the MSP concerning a FOIA request they made concerning a named man. The MSP responded:
From: Hultberg, Renee (MSP) <HultbergR@michigan.gov>
Sent: Wednesday, October 2, 2024 2:27 PM
To: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX [DELETED NAME AND EMAIL BY ME]
Subject: FOIA CR 31312212 [NAME OF SUBJECT REMOVED BY ME]
Good afternoon,
I am reaching out to you regarding the Freedom of Information request referenced above. There is no easy way to find the information you have asked for. The only way would be to provide you the large number of incident reports related to the Oakland County Child Killer case, and there is no guarantee that the name [XXXX XXXXX] is in there. There are thousands of pages of records, and we currently bill at $34.14 per hour. Before I send you a fee estimation, I wanted to reach out to see if you would still like to proceed with this request. The last time I sent out a fee estimation in 2021 the amount was $678,782.79. The cost today would be higher than what it was estimated at in 2021. Please advise by October 7.
Renee Hultberg
Asst. FOIA Coordinator
Records Resource Section
Office of the Director
Michigan State Police
7150 Harris Drive
Dimondale, Michigan 48821
“A PROUD tradition of SERVICE through EXCELLENCE, INTEGRITY, and [?? sic]
As long-time readers will note, this is still “cheaper” than the $800K figure quoted to longtime OCCK internet sleuth and investigator Helen Dagner years ago. This FOIA-filer responded back that they would then like to revise the open records request to read “for all open records requests related to the OCCK since 2005.”
The filer then explained in response to Ms. Hultberg:
I trust that would require no real research time because you would have a FOIA database with all records which have been produced in electronic form. Correct?
Then, I can convert all the documents to OCR, if not already searchable, and AI to search.
I will be happy to provide MSP a link with the searchable documents also.
If there is no easy way of finding the information, I think we have identified a substantial issue with the investigation and lack of key resources. What is being done to digitize the records to use AI to enable the investigation and expedite the ability to access information?
What is being done if funding is an issue? What can I do to assist the MSP in trying to get the records in paperless form?
This is a cold case which is almost 50 years old.
They went on to explain how they came to know of the man, why they believed he could be a person of interest in this case, links between the man and relevant locations in the case, that he had “friends” at the Oak Park Police, and other alarming information about him. They continued:
I am not going to spend six figures to try to uncover what I can do to help, but I will write every legislator or official you can name to seek funding so that the MSP can access records to be able to effectively investigate the case.
To my knowledge, Ms. Hultberg never did respond. I did not post the series of emails to my blog at the time because there was too much identifying information about the person requesting the documents (which I have omitted from the above). Instead, I forwarded the emails to the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office, prefaced with the following:
[T]his is the kind of shit the MSP is still pulling (see below). It highlights why they MUST digitize their case files. Also, if indeed they have a computerized list of tips/names they should be able to easily see if a tip was called in on XXXX (XXXX) XXXXX. That they should be able to answer in 20 seconds if indeed they have such a list.
This agency is an abomination.
So when anyone evaluates the status of this 50-year-old cold case, ask why the case files were never digitized. Why all of the DNA in this case was not tested/retested using sophisticated third-party labs as has been done in cases of similar vintage? If they won’t retest, what are the reasons? Why were survivors of Michigan child sex rings and other witnesses who came forward after Children of the Snow aired never taken seriously? Why were none of the tips that arose after that documentary or The Snow Killings ever investigated? Why we sit here some seven years later with gaps that someone with an ounce of integrity in law enforcement would have considered.
Tell me how, if a third-party lab manages to develop usable DNA from the evidence in this case, the MSP is going to be able to find jackshit relating to a name or names in the mayhem file system that “allows” them to have the audacity to charge over half a million dollars for a simple FOIA request?
And for all of you, how about filing an online FOIA request with the MSP for 1. Any and all FOIA requests made to the MSP for any information in the OCCK case; 2. Any and all documents, electronic or print, from the OCCK case file by detectives working the case since June 2019.
https://www.michigan.gov/msp/services/foia
Let’s see those other FOIA requests and the responses. Let’s see how this cold case has languished since 2019. (Of course #2 will be met with their “open case” exception and the circularity will continue.)
Let’s get that quote down from $678,782.79, shall we?