The Doe Network:
Case File 60DFMI
Kellie Marie Brownlee
Missing since May 20, 1982 from Novi, Oakland County, Michigan.
Classification: Non-Family Abduction
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Vital Statistics
Date Of Birth: November 5, 1964
Age at Time of Disappearance: 17 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'7; 135 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian. Brown hair; brown eyes.
Marks: She has double-pierced ears.
Dentals: Available. Brownlee's left front tooth is capped.
Clothing: She wore a long sleeved peach blouse, white painter pants and Nina brand burgundy high heels at the time of disappearance.
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Circumstances of Disappearance:
Brownlee was last seen at the Twelve Oaks Mall in Novi, MI around 11 AM on May 20, 1982. On the morning of May 20, 1982, Kellie and her boyfriend took the bus to school, but Kellie didn't attend class. At 9 a.m., she hitchhiked to Twelve Oaks Mall in Novi to apply for a job. At 11 a.m., Kellie ran into a friend's mom who offered Kellie a ride, but Kellie wanted to put in more applications before heading home. That was the last time anyone saw her.
Kellie was a "Wall 'Tuckian," the nickname for the big-haired girls in blue jeans, high heels and army jackets who hung around Walled Lake in the early 1980s. She listened to Ozzy Osbourne and smoked Marlboro Reds.
Kellie was staying with her boyfriend, Mark Graves, and his family in their apartment in Walled Lake, Michigan in May 1982. She had moved out of her family's West Bloomfield, Michigan home after telling friends that her stepfather, Paul Brownlee, abused her. Her friends stated that they had seen bruises on Kellie's body before she vanished. Paul had pleaded guilty to fourth-degree criminal sexual misconduct in 1977 when Kellie's older sister Kim filed charges against him. Kim then moved to California, where the girls' biological father resided. Kellie remained in Michigan, where she had a good relationship with their mother, Loretta. Kellie had occasionally moved out of the family's home after problems with Paul came to the forefront. Loretta stated that Kellie was planning to move back to West Bloomfield once Paul left the residence. Loretta did not divorce Paul until 1985, three years after Kellie disappeared, but there were apparently ongoing discussions about the plan at the time. Graves reported that Kellie was missing when she did not return to his family's apartment or call him by 9:00 PM. A search was initiated soon after, but little evidence was located. Graves was ruled out as a suspect early on in the investigation. Speculation began to center around Paul Brownlee, who claimed that he was visiting his father-in-law's grave and going to the gym on the day Kellie disappeared. Paul also denied abusing Kellie in any way and maintained he had nothing to do with her disappearance.
Foul play is suspected in this case.
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This is about 20 miles from where I live. What happened to Kellie? Could she have met up with the same person Christina Castiglione did?
This story first appeared in:
Daily Press and Argus
Friday, April 30, 2004
Page 1 Back
Police re-open 1983 murder case
Daily Press & Argus
Livingston County sheriff's investigators are hoping that a recent tip on a serial killer's stop in the area 21 years ago may lead to an arrest in the decades-old murder of Christina Castiglione.
Investigators are also hoping that improvements in DNA technology will help them solve Castiglione's murder.
"We had information on a possible serial killer who was in the area during the time frame we are looking at," said Livingston County Undersheriff Bob Bezotte, who was an original investigator on the case. "We are looking at it, from that standpoint it's a positive thing. It gives us something to go on. We'll either eliminate him or find out he's involved."
Bezotte declined to identify the suspect, citing the ongoing investigation.
Castiglione was 19-years-old on March 19, 1983, when she was taken from her hometown of Redford, raped, strangled and left for dead on state hunting land in Livingston County.
Her body was discovered March 29, 1983.
"We got a good tip, a very good tip," said Detective Rob Michels, who took over the case in April 2001.
Investigators are following up on that information, Bezotte said.
In the meantime, Michels said he hopes that as inmates' DNA is being taken and processed through the criminal justice system, a hit will match a suspect to the Castiglione murder.
"I think the odds are even once we go through DNA," Michels said. "At the least, we hope to eliminate suspects."
Michels is beginning with a suspect - the man who found Castiglione's body - who the original investigator, Bezotte, believes is still the prime suspect.
"He said he didn't get within 40 or 50 feet of the body, and he saw her in the distance and immediately called police," Bezotte said about the original suspect. "We had his footprints within a foot of the body. We think he was leaving the scene and then found that he could have been sighted in the area."
Bezotte said he's further convinced police have the right man because the suspect's story "doesn't make sense." The suspect, whose name is not being released, originally told police that he was in the area fishing and "got bored" so he decided to go hunting when he came across Castiglione's body, the undersheriff said.
"His original story didn't make sense," Bezotte said. "He has relatives in the area where (Castiglione) was picked up. He's familiar with Livingston County and he deer hunts in the area.
"But, he had neither a fishing pole nor hunting (equipment) with him," the undersheriff said. "The story would fit if he had a gun or fishing pole with him."
Bezotte said he believes the suspect, whom the undersheriff believes was a stranger to the victim, returned to the body because he was curious.
"There were no news reports of her being found," Bezotte said. "I think he went back to the scene to see what happened. There was a utility truck in the area that may have seen him, and he came up with a story for why he was there."
Bezotte further believes his original suspect is the murderer because the suspect neglected to show up for a polygraph test. Although a polygraph is not admissible in court, Bezotte said it is a tool law enforcement officials use to eliminate suspects.
"We cleared 10 people with the polygraph," he noted. "But (the original suspect) didn't show up for the polygraph. It keeps going back to the original suspect.
"Until we clear him, he's our guy," Bezotte said.
Michels said that evidence was collected from the original suspect at the time of the murder, but it is now 21 years old, and with technological advancements, he hopes fresh DNA from the suspect will either be matched to evidence at the scene or clear the man.
"All we're doing is re-establishing fresh DNA," Michels said.
Michels said investigators are "in the process of gathering DNA" from the 1983 suspect and are pouring over evidence in the hopes something will spark new information that leads to closing the case.
In addition to DNA, Michels hopes that any witness's memories will be jogged. Someone, he said, may be holding a clue to finding Castiglione's murderer.
In addition, police continue to check DNA of convicted serial killers who may have been in the area at the time of Castiglione's murder. The Castiglione case is similar to the murder of 16-year-old Kimberly Louiselle of Green Oak Township. She was hitchhiking home from Redford a year earlier when she disappeared.
Louiselle was found dead and sexually assaulted at the Island Lake Recreation Area, which is also state land in Green Oak Township, just south of Brighton Township.
Police said Castiglione and her boyfriend fought the night she was abducted and that she told him she was going to walk home. Her boyfriend, who had been riding with two other friends, reached her home and began to walk back to Castiglione to meet her.
"He never found her," Bezotte said. "In those 10 to 15 minutes, she was gone. We believe she was hitchhiking, which she was known to do. We believe she went voluntarily."
Police early on cleared her boyfriend and the two friends in the vehicle of any wrongdoing.
For Bezotte, the Castiglione murder continues to haunt him.
"I have worked on a few homicides," Bezotte said. "This is the only one that is unsolved. This is the one that haunts you. My gut feeling tells me (our suspect) is the guy, but I've been wrong before.
"I promised her parents we would not forget Christine," the undersheriff said. "As time goes on, it gets tougher and tougher."
Anyone with information is asked to call Michels at the Livingston County Sheriff's Department at 517-546-2440.