In April 1984 Dean R. Bultema, 28, of Wimbledon, North Dakota, was transporting an antique automobile to sell in Owosso when he stopped at a rest area in New Buffalo, Michigan. There he encountered Richard Norbert Clarey Jr., who had just crashed a stolen vehicle while fleeing after another murder. Clarey shot and killed Bultema and another man, Floyd Holmes, then tried to drive off in Bultema’s truck but became stuck in mud and abandoned it before fleeing on foot into Indiana.

A multi-agency search located Clarey hours later hiding in an attic in La Porte, Indiana; he was arrested without incident. Clarey confessed to the earlier killing of Robert Baranski, was arraigned on charges in the New Buffalo slayings, and was tried in December 1984. A psychologist testified that Clarey suffered from several mental disorders, including periodic schizophrenia, but a videotaped confession and testimony from more than 50 witnesses led to guilty verdicts on December 21, 1984, with mandatory life sentences. Two months later he pleaded guilty to Baranski’s murder and received an additional life term.

Did anyone who knew Dean or Floyd have details about their travel plans or the antique car being transported?