Post by Helen Dagner on Dec 26, 2011 12:43:45 GMT -5
On February 15, 1976, at about 1:30 p.m., a 12-year-old boy--Mark
Douglas Stebbins--left the Ferndale, Michigan, American Legion Hall to head
for his home at 429 E. Saratoga Street in Ferndale to watch a movie on television.
His mother, who spoke with him just before he left the hall, called
the Ferndale Police Department that night at 11:00 p.m. to report that he had
not yet returned home and. that she was concerned, since he had never done
anything like this before. He was, she told the police dispatcher, wearing
a blue, hooded parka, blue jeans, a red sweatshirt, and black rubbe': boots.
The missing person report filed by Mrs. Stebbins was of little help in
finding her son, whom she described as being 4'8" tall, weighing 100 pounds,
with reddish-blond hair and blue eyes. However, four days later, at 11:45
a.m. on February 19, a businessman named Mark Boetigheimer left his office at
15660 W. Ten Mile Road in southfield, Michigan, to walk over to the drugstore
at New Orleans Mall. Along his route, he glanced toward the northeast corner
of the parking lot he was crossing and noticed what he thought might be a
mannikin or dummy dressed in a blue jacket and jeans. As he came closer, he
saw that it was the body of a young boy; he immediately returned to his office
and called the Southfield Police Department.
The body, which would soon be identified as that of Mark Stebbins,
was removed to the department's security garage where it was checked for injuries
and possible cause of death. The autopsy, when performed by Dr. Thomas
J. Pentinga, noted that death was due to asphyxia caused by smothering and
added that there were also two small crusted lacerations of the scalp on the
left rear of the head, that there were discolorations of the wrists and ankles
that might be rope marks, and that the anal orifice was widely distended with
obvious but superficial lacerations.
In the light of the fact that Mark's body was found just befor~ noon
on the 19th, the story told to Southfield police by Mack M. Gallop, anotheroccupant of the building housing Boetigheimer's office is of interst. Gallop
said that at about 9:30 that morning he had walked his Schnauzer along the
edge of the parking lot. He believed that if the body had been there at that
time, the dog, who was on a 20-foot leash, would have smelled it and gone over
to investigate, thereby leading to its discovery. Thus, there was some evidence
that the body was placed near the building after 9:30 a.m.
The murder of Mark Stebbins was the first of four interrelated crimes
against children in ths Woodward Cooridor; more than 10 months would pass before
another would be reported.
Douglas Stebbins--left the Ferndale, Michigan, American Legion Hall to head
for his home at 429 E. Saratoga Street in Ferndale to watch a movie on television.
His mother, who spoke with him just before he left the hall, called
the Ferndale Police Department that night at 11:00 p.m. to report that he had
not yet returned home and. that she was concerned, since he had never done
anything like this before. He was, she told the police dispatcher, wearing
a blue, hooded parka, blue jeans, a red sweatshirt, and black rubbe': boots.
The missing person report filed by Mrs. Stebbins was of little help in
finding her son, whom she described as being 4'8" tall, weighing 100 pounds,
with reddish-blond hair and blue eyes. However, four days later, at 11:45
a.m. on February 19, a businessman named Mark Boetigheimer left his office at
15660 W. Ten Mile Road in southfield, Michigan, to walk over to the drugstore
at New Orleans Mall. Along his route, he glanced toward the northeast corner
of the parking lot he was crossing and noticed what he thought might be a
mannikin or dummy dressed in a blue jacket and jeans. As he came closer, he
saw that it was the body of a young boy; he immediately returned to his office
and called the Southfield Police Department.
The body, which would soon be identified as that of Mark Stebbins,
was removed to the department's security garage where it was checked for injuries
and possible cause of death. The autopsy, when performed by Dr. Thomas
J. Pentinga, noted that death was due to asphyxia caused by smothering and
added that there were also two small crusted lacerations of the scalp on the
left rear of the head, that there were discolorations of the wrists and ankles
that might be rope marks, and that the anal orifice was widely distended with
obvious but superficial lacerations.
In the light of the fact that Mark's body was found just befor~ noon
on the 19th, the story told to Southfield police by Mack M. Gallop, anotheroccupant of the building housing Boetigheimer's office is of interst. Gallop
said that at about 9:30 that morning he had walked his Schnauzer along the
edge of the parking lot. He believed that if the body had been there at that
time, the dog, who was on a 20-foot leash, would have smelled it and gone over
to investigate, thereby leading to its discovery. Thus, there was some evidence
that the body was placed near the building after 9:30 a.m.
The murder of Mark Stebbins was the first of four interrelated crimes
against children in ths Woodward Cooridor; more than 10 months would pass before
another would be reported.