Ken Stanton, today.

Here's what Kenneth Robert Stanton looks like today.

He is not up for parole until 2020 and will probably die in a Georgia prison.

I'll be putting in a request for an interview this week.

New Inductee into our Top 10 Suspects: Kenneth Robert Stanton

How did we miss this guy?

A reader of this blog alerted me today to Kenneth Robert Stanton, who was featured in this old Unsolved Mysteries broadcast.

Stanton, as you can see, bears a striking resemblance to Amy's abductor. And he has a long history of molestation involving girls between the ages of 7 and 12. At the time of the broadcast, in 1990, he was wanted for 11 counts of child abuse in southern states. And his M.O. is also similar--he would find out when the girls were home alone after school and show up at their doorstep in a suit, posing as a policeman (not a giant leap from gaining Amy's trust the way her killer did). Stanton was nabbed a few days after the episode aired. Where had he been hiding? Ohio.

After a little digging, I discovered that early reports that he was living in Lorain are false. He was actually living in a mobile home park in Moraine, Ohio (south of Dayton). But he was working as a traveling salesman and is known to drive long distances to scout for young girls (always in affluent neighborhoods).

We need to know more about this man. If they would have released some info about him up here, in Cleveland, in 1990, it might have generated some good leads.

Buick Searched by Feds ID'd

The 1987 Buick (license plate JOC-177) that FBI agents searched for fiber evidence in the Amy Mihaljevic case appears to have belonged to a man named Brad Studd.

Attempts to reach Studd have been unsuccessful.

Anyone know this fellow?

Is it Runkle's Kids?

Following today's posting about the troll that has been posting insults on posts about Kapela, this one came in from "Aaron".

I actually completely agree with this person/these people.

What you're doing is pretty despicable.

At first, I wondered. Had I gone too far? I mean, if other readers agreed, maybe I had.

But then I did some digging. I'm a curious guy.

Turns out "Aaron" is Aaron Spencer, a former student of Dean Runkle's.

I get the argument that one shouldn't put the names of innocent people out there linking them to an unsolved murder. I get that. But, the people I have named are not innocent. Even if they are innocent of Amy's murder. Kapela scared the bejesus out of a little girl's family when he asked to be her boyfriend. Runkle wrote love letters to students. Robert Jones was trying to buy a girl from a prostitute. I'm not losing any sleep about it. Especially when it generates new information.

Who is Trolling This Blog?

Over the last couple days, I've received increasingly hostile emails referencing posts related to retired dentist Greg Kapela, who was investigated for any link to the Amy Mihaljevic case after authorities learned his daughters took riding lessons at Holly Hill farms and Kapela coached soccer in North Olmsted, where many of the other girls who were called by Amy's killer were from. Kapela once passed notes to an eleven-year-old girl on his soccer team and called her at home, asking her if he could be her boyfriend--though he says his advances were misconstrued at the time.

Here's a sampling:

James, Dont you think it is irresponsible to publish a book in 2006 for your financial gain which names a possible murder suspect then 4 years later continue to libel innocent people when the sales of your book trickle off. you seem to have many contradictions in your assessments of possible suspects. maybe you should investigate all of the facts of this case before trying to ruin peoples lives for your own financial gain.

quote from james renner. "As a journalist I have written about a number of crimes. I followed the rules of journalism in all cases—except for Amy Mihaljevic. I tossed out the rules for this case because it was so personal to me. I lied to people, I talked my way into places I shouldn’t have been in, and I stood on the thin line between what is legal and what is not in order to get the answers I needed. I’m comfortable with that decision."

Was this case so personal to you because it makes you money? Do you find it to be responsible to throw peoples names on a blog and tell people that they are possibly child murderers? I believe you continue to post new items and "suspects" to keep people interested in your novel.

James, You are ridiculous and you are trying to ruin peoples lives so that people will stay interested in your manifesto. You really need to think about what you are doing by posting a laundry list of "suspects" on a blog site. Your so called sources would be ripped apart in any court of law or any real journalistic piece. It is disgusting that you are doing this all to benefit yourself financially.

Ray Brahler Owned Suzuki searched by FBI.

One down, three to go.

Today, I positively identified the owner of that 88 Suzuki, from which the FBI took carpet samples, as Ray Brahler.

Brahler was an odd duck. He lived on Lake, and could see the Bay plaza from his house. He admitted being there the day Amy vanished.

Brahler was also a former air traffic controller, out on disability after he...and I'm not kidding here...fell into a valley after the wire supporting a gondola he was traveling in snapped. He was an avid believer in UFO's and the paranormal. And he owned a cabin in Western PA, in a small town where another little girl, Shanna Howe, was abducted and murdered on the anniversary of Amy's kidnapping. However, DNA tests in 2002, implicate three other men in that crime: James O'Brien, Timothy O'Brien, and Eldred "Ted" Walker.

Brahler died shortly before my book was published.

Similar M.O. being played out down south. **UPDATED**

Someone is stalking young female students in colleges along the Gulf coast, via Facebook. He gains their trust, telling them he's a member of their sorority and then the conversations get increasingly more sexual until he's asking them what color underwear they have on. He's managed to get a few of them to send him nude photos, too.

Authorities have long suspected that Amy's killer may have moved from phone harassment to the internet. Something about this particular fellow seems very similar to the way Amy's killer spoke to the other girls from North Olmsted.

Read more about it here. I'll be keeping an eye on this one.

**UPDATE**

A Florida man was arrested and charged with these crimes. Looks like there's no connection, here.