歪歪漫画

STEARNS COUNTY, Minn. 鈥� A Stearns County cold case is one step closer to a possible conclusion.

Physical evidence retrieved from the scene of the 1974 slayings of Mary Reker, 15, and her sister, Susie Reker, 12, is undergoing cutting-edge DNA analysis 鈥� and investigators are hoping it leads to a resolution on a cold case that has plagued the department for more than 50 years.

鈥淲e still have physical evidence that was collected early in the investigation still in our possession,鈥� Stearns County Sheriff鈥檚 Office Lt. Zach Sorenson told Forum News Service. 鈥淐urrently some of which is being tested with advancements in DNA technology.鈥�

Susie Reker and Mary Reker last stepped foot in their home in early September 1974, having left for a 40-minute stroll to a nearby store to buy school supplies. Witnesses saw the girls shopping that day 鈥� but the eyewitness accounts stopped there.

Their bodies were discovered on Sept. 28, 1974, at a quarry, located miles outside of St. Cloud. The discovery halted the 26-day search for the girls 鈥� and launched an investigation that remains open and unsolved.

The details of the physical evidence undergoing testing remain under wraps, yet details from the investigation indicate clothing was discovered at the scene.

When officers arrived to investigate, they discovered Susie Reker on a grass-filled edge of the quarry. She had suffered at least 13 stab wounds. The front of her sweater had been cut, along with her bra.

Mary Reker鈥檚 body was discovered floating in the quarry, with roughly five stab wounds. Initial reports indicate Mary鈥檚 clothing had been removed and thrown in the water, along with her body.

The advanced DNA testing of physical evidence discovered at the Reker crime scene comes on the heels of the high-profile arrest of Jon Keith Miller, who confessed to law enforcement in November to the 1974 murder of Mary Schlais.

Contributed / Steele County Detention Center

Miller told investigators he picked up the 25-year-old, who was hitchhiking a ride from Minneapolis to Chicago, on Feb. 15, 1974. When she refused his sexual advances, he began to repeatedly stab her. In all, she suffered roughly 15 stab wounds 鈥� and died as a result.

Miller drove to a rural dead-end road in Wisconsin鈥檚 Dunn County, where he threw her body out of the vehicle and attempted to cover her with snow. An eyewitness saw the whole thing, but Miller drove away and went under the radar for roughly 50 years.

A hat discovered at the scene was the key to unlocking the case. Recent advanced DNA testing yielded a positive genetic profile from the hat.

That DNA was submitted to New Jersey鈥檚 Ramapo College, which has a program specializing in investigative genetic genealogy. Utilizing the DNA profile, the team worked their way back through a family tree, which eventually led them to Miller.

The Reker sisters were killed in the same manner Schlais experienced: multiple stab wounds 鈥� and, like Schlais, the girls鈥� bodies were dumped in a nearby rural area. The crimes were committed five months apart, although in different parts of the state. St. Cloud is located roughly one hour away from Minneapolis.

Yet in December 2024, Sorenson told Forum News Service Miller was not considered a suspect in the Reker sisters鈥� case, claiming there was no known connection at the time.

Miller was living in Pine City, Minnesota, at the time of the Reker sisters鈥� deaths and Schlais鈥� murder.

鈥淛on Miller is not a suspect in our homicide investigations currently,鈥� Sorenson said. 鈥淲e are aware of the Dunn County case and information that has been released. Currently we don鈥檛 have any information that puts Miller in our area in 1974, but that could change as information is learned.鈥�

Sorenson did, however, say the Stearns County Sheriff鈥檚 Office is on unsolved cases 鈥� and any possible DNA extracted from evidence will be tested against all known offenders in the area.

鈥淚f we are able to get a DNA profile that we can鈥檛 account for as belonging to the victims, we will test it against as many profiles as we can,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 can not say specific people currently.鈥�