'I just have this peace that something is going to happen': Linda Meteer's case revisited 35 years later

Elizabeth Brewer, The Record-Eagle, Traverse City, Mich.
·3 min read

Apr. 22—TRAVERSE CITY — Detectives announced renewed investigative efforts into the 1989 unsolved homicide of a Grand Traverse County mother of five.

Grand Traverse Sheriff's Office Capt. Chris Clark said Monday they hope technological advancements in forensic science and a push for information from the community will help them determine who killed Linda Marie Meteer.

The 41-year-old was reported missing on April 20, 1989, after leaving Spike's Peak Bar in Chums Corners. Her body was found in Hoosier Valley near Vance Road a week later on the afternoon of April 27. Her death certificate states she was beaten to death, and that she suffered no gunshot or stab wounds.

According to previous Record-Eagle reporting, Meteer's former husband identified her body.

Lisa Haney was 18 at the time of her mother's death.

"When somebody's life is taken so tragically as hers was, and it's been an open case for so long, for 35 years, of course everybody says: 'Time heals all wounds,' and in some ways that is true, but not totally," Haney said. "You have to try and deal with and cope with the emotions that come along with it."

Detectives from the sheriff's office have met with representatives from the Grand Traverse County Prosecutor's Office, Michigan State Police Crime Lab in Grayling and Western Michigan University Cold Case Program to launch a new investigative plan.

WMU's Cold Case Program, in its third year, utilizes the talents of students trained in forensic science, law, and criminal investigation tactics to review cold cases in hopes of uncovering new evidence. Michigan State Police also assists detectives in missing person cases.

In 1989, the sheriff's office joined forces with the Traverse City Police Department and Michigan State Police to create an investigative task force in hopes of solving the mystery of Meteer's death.

Ten years later, in 1999, Meteer's case became the first homicide case in the sheriff's office to utilize DNA testing. The undersheriff at the time, Bob Monroe, told the Record-Eagle in 1999 that the crime scene evidence would be resubmitted in hopes that the new technology could solve the case.

Clark, who worked with some of the detectives assigned to Linda Meteer's case at the time, said the goal of the renewed investigation and announcement was "to let the family know that we will never forget their loved one and let the suspect know we are dedicated to ensuring justice," he said.

Haney said the renewed effort to solve her mom's death feels different this time.

"For the first time — throughout this whole process — I feel a contentment for some reason," she said. "This team that has been in contact with me and the confidence and the communication that is being conveyed to me now, I don't know I just have this peace that something is going to happen, that these guys are really going all out and giving it everything they have. And I just have a feeling that it's gonna break the case — I do."

Haney remembers her mom as happy-go-lucky.

"She was a very outgoing person, most of the people that she came in contact with her liked her," Haney said. "[Meteer] was usually smiling and happy, no matter what was going on in her life."

This investigation plan was organized in a similar way to the missing persons case involving Jacob Cabinaw, which was relaunched by the department last month.

The Cabinaw and Meteer cases are the only two unsolved crimes in the detective bureau, Clark said.

Anyone with any information about Meteer's disappearance and death in 1989 is asked to call 231-995-5027 or fill out the Sheriff's Office Citizen Online Reporting link.