Patricia Patty Stichler was 30 when she was murdered in her Sylvania, Ohio home in the early hours of January 2, 1985. A divorced mother of three young daughters, she had hosted a New Year’s Eve party the night before. An attacker entered the house while the family slept; Patricia suffered multiple stab wounds and a slashed throat and was found mostly nude on the master bedroom floor by her 11-year-old daughter. Blood spatter stained the bed and carpets and was present in at least two rooms. The three girls had been sleeping in a bedroom down the hall.

Officers found no signs of forced entry at doors but did find an open bathroom window, knife cuts to the shower curtain and window coverings, and a knife sheath on the ground outside. The initial investigation focused on people Patricia knew but produced no charges and the case went cold. Decades later, forensic genealogy identified DNA from the scene as belonging to Michael Mellus, who was 17 and lived six houses from the Stichlers in 1985; Mellus died in a single-vehicle crash in 1989 while in the Army. The family continued to seek answers for many years after the killing.

Did anyone who lived on that street in 1985 notice anything unusual around New Year’s Day that might shed light on the case?