Amela Pasanbegovic, 20, was last seen on July 11, 1995, after arriving in Glendale Heights, Illinois for work she had been offered. She and her sister Dzaneta had fled Bosnia six months earlier and were living in Hanover Park, employed at a factory until both were laid off. Amela was 5 feet 7 inches, about 140 pounds, with brown hair, green eyes and a small mole on her nose; she was likely wearing a red cloth wristband, a watch with a large black face and dark brown sunglasses the day she vanished.

According to a later confession by Paul Frederick Runge, he lured the sisters with a job offer, assaulted and strangled Amela, and killed Dzaneta as well. Runge said he dismembered their bodies and disposed of the remains in garbage bins; no remains have been recovered. A DuPage County judge issued death certificates based on the confession, and related murder charges were later dropped because another conviction would not change Runge’s existing life term.

Anyone who knew Amela, her movements in July 1995, or who may have information about the sisters’ last known whereabouts is asked to come forward.