DNA stirs up Oakland County child killer case
Marney Rich Keenan/ The Detroit News
News of a DNA match connecting a recently paroled convict to one of the victims of the Oakland County Child Killings has thrust the 34-year-old unsolved case back in the spotlight.
James Vincent Gunnels, a 50-year-old Flint native, was found to have a "mitochondrial" DNA match to Kristine Mihelich of Berkley, who was 10 years old when she disappeared for 19 days in 1976.
She was one of four children from Oakland County who were abducted and killed between February 1976 and March 1977.
Gunnels was recently paroled in Kalamazoo after serving five stints in prison for crimes ranging from larceny to breaking and entering. Gunnel's DNA sequence matched one of two hair fragments removed from Kristine's shirt. Gunnels was a childhood friend of one of the nephews of Christopher Busch, a convicted pedophile suspected of being involved in the killings.
Busch was charged and later convicted of criminal sexual conduct with a minor four times in 1977 in four counties: Oakland, Montmorency Genesee and Midland. With each charge, Busch's father, a prominent General Motors executive, posted cash bonds to free his son. Busch lived in Birmingham during the time of the killings. He killed himself in 1978, a year after the killings stopped.
According to Michigan State Police records, the match is the first physical DNA evidence in the case. A mitochondrial DNA sequence, however, is not a perfect match, and the sample is 34 years old. The results of the testing were made known to investigators in March 2009.
In an interview with The Detroit News last month, Gunnels insisted he was a victim of Busch and that he has "no idea" how his DNA could have wound up on Kristine's body.
But families of victims are calling for investigators to pressure Gunnels into giving up more information on the case.
Erica McAvoy, Kristine's sister, said, "What we want the public to know is that we are not saying Vince Gunnels is a suspect in terms of being a serial child killer. But this DNA test says there an association, a triangle that put Chris Busch, Vince Gunnels and Kristine Mihelich in the same vicinity."
Records reveal that Gunnels was polygraphed twice, but the results have been suppressed. Police also recorded a phone conversation between Gunnels and his sister while he was jailed during which they discussed the DNA match. He told his sister: "I wasn't there when it happened."
Gunnels said he was molested by Busch twice, once in Midland County and once in Montmorency County at the Busch family cottage on Ess Lake. He said he cannot remember the dates.
Gunnels insisted he has "no idea" how his hair got on Kristine's body. When asked if it was possible that the hair had been transferred while he rode in Busch's car he responded: "I haven't a clue, no clue at all," he said "There are a million 'ifs.'" Concerning the admission to his sister, Gunnels said his words were being parsed: "I was there when what happened to me happened. I wasn't there when anything else happened."
Meanwhile, WDIV-TV Channel 4 reported earlier this week that investigators with the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office were at the Ess Lake residence, the same cottage where Gunnels said he was molested by Busch.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy had no comment. Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper issued a statement saying: "I believe I am professionally and ethically prohibited from revealing the details of an incomplete and inconclusive investigation."
mkeenan@detnews.com
From The Detroit News:
detnews.com/article/20110520/METRO02/105200371/DNA-stirs-up-Oakland-County-child-killer-case#ixzz1MtEnbqLg