Hinckley Township Police Chief Melvin Mel L. Wiley, 47, disappeared in the summer of 1985. A former Army intelligence officer, FBI fingerprint technician and Department of Defense investigator, Wiley had been with Hinckley Township starting in 1978 and became chief in 1982. He was divorced, had no children, and was known to be private and devoted to writing; he was working on a murder mystery manuscript titled Harvest of Madness and had published a book of poetry.

Wiley was last seen on July 28, 1985. He told his girlfriend he planned to meet an out-of-town friend to swim at a Lake Erie park and said he needed to buy a swimsuit, though friends said he did not like swimming and no suit was ever purchased.

His apartment was found locked and tidy with a window open; food and water were left for his cats, some clothes and personal items were missing, and the novel manuscript was gone. He left thousands of dollars in his pension and made no large bank withdrawals. Investigators later concluded he may have staged his disappearance and possibly gone to California, but no confirmed trace was found; he was declared legally dead in 1993. Does anyone have memories of Mel Wiley, his car at Lakefront State Park, or possible sightings after July 1985?