Grand Traverse County Deputies recently began a renewed push to solve a 1989 cold case.
The case of Linda Meteer is one that’s never been far from the minds of detectives in the county.
On April 19th of 1989, 41-year-old Linda Meteer was spending the night out with friends in Grand Traverse County.
“She was last seen on April 20th leaving one of the bars. At that time, it was called Spikes Peak Northern Lights. After April 20th, she was not heard from again,” said Captain Chris Clark with the Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Office.
Linda’s body wouldn’t be discovered until the 27th in Hoosier valley.
“When the body was found on the 27th, they had no idea who it was. So at that point, law enforcement was trying to identify who this person was. I believe on April 28, they were actually able to make the identification that it was Linda Meteer. She had quite she had a lot of blunt force trauma to her torso and some around her jaw,” explained Clark.
Linda’s death would be ruled a homicide.
“I think they looked at the injuries because you’re talking the autopsy was done as well around the 28th. I believe, 29th. They looked at those injuries. Then they started talking to some witnesses about where she was at and the fact that they hadn’t heard from her for that number of days,” said Clark.
Detectives formed a sizeable task force to begin looking into what happened to Linda.
“They started looking at where she was at that night. So they were talking to all the patrons of the bar. Anybody that might have been in that bar that night, family, friends, coworkers, multiple people. When you start looking at the last couple of hours of the evening, she’s just at the bar with the friend and she’s having a good time,” said Clark.
Despite dozens of interviews and a lenghty investigation, detectives were never able to successfully identify and charge a suspect.
“I think it came out there was no one that really said I did it, you know, or anything that was pointing towards this person, had a significant involvement in, you know, how she died,” said Clark.
Despite years of setbacks without a breakthrough, detectives believe now is the time they can solve Linda’s case.
“A lot of times you want to you want to not just focus on the days, couple of days before and a couple of days afterwards. You want to look what is their pattern of life. So we’re kind of digging into what may have happened a year before, six months before, you know, or after as well. But we’re kind of looking at it from different avenues. You know, we’re looking at all the evidence that we have, you know, we’re reviewing all the reports as well. You’ve got Linda was a mother of five at the time in 1989. She had since had a son passed away. Her mother’s passed away not knowing, you know, who killed their mother or their daughter. So, you know, they deserve it as well,” said Clark.
If you have any information about who killed Linda Meteer contact the Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Office at 231-995-5002.
You can also submit tips online through the Sheriff’s Office website.