Patricia Stichler

Patricia “Patty” Stichler was a 30-year-old divorced mother living with her three young daughters in the seemingly safe community of Sylvania, Ohio. A White woman, she had worked for more than seven years at 21st Century Health Spas, though she was not employed there at the time of her death. She and her daughters, ages 11, 9, and 5, had just celebrated the new year. The day before she was killed, she had hosted a New Year’s Eve party attended by about 20 people.

In the early morning hours of January 2, 1985, an attacker entered Patricia’s home while she and her children slept. A violent struggle ensued in the master bedroom, where Patricia was brutally stabbed multiple times and her throat was slashed. Her mostly nude body was later found on the floor by her 11-year-old daughter, who had woken up and gone to check on her mother. Blood spatter was found in at least two rooms, staining the bed and carpets. The three girls had been sleeping in a bedroom just down the hall during the assault.

Responding officers found no signs of forced entry at any of the doors. However, in a bathroom, they discovered an open window, along with knife cuts to the shower curtain and window coverings. A knife sheath was found on the ground just outside. The initial investigation focused on people Patricia knew, including her ex-husband and her boyfriend at the time, but no charges were ever filed, and the case went cold.

For nearly four decades, the murder remained unsolved, though Sylvania police always considered it an active investigation. Patricia’s daughters grew up vowing never to stop seeking answers. Her middle daughter, Kirsten Kelley, worked with a team of investigators to apply the latest DNA technology to the case. "My family is left to pick up the broken pieces of 37 years," she said in 2021. "Almost 37 years of not knowing anything, really."

In July 2022, the Sylvania Police Division announced a major breakthrough. Using forensic genealogy, investigators analyzed DNA evidence recovered from the 1985 crime scene and traced it through consumer DNA networks to a suspect. The DNA belonged to Michael Mellus, who was a 17-year-old high school student at the time of the murder.

Investigators learned that in 1985, Mellus lived on the same street as the Stichler family, just six houses away. He was not acquainted with Patricia or her daughters and would have had no reason to be inside their home. After graduating from high school, Mellus joined the U.S. Army. In 1989, while stationed in North Carolina, he died in a single-vehicle car accident. Because the identified perpetrator is deceased, no criminal prosecution is possible. The case was officially closed in July 2022.