In July of 1995, the lives of two sisters, Amela and Dzaneta Pasanbegovic, took a tragic and irreversible turn. Having escaped the conflict in their native Bosnia just six months prior, they sought safety and a new beginning in Hanover Park, Illinois, where they lived with an uncle. The sisters, aged 20 and 22, had found work at a local factory and secured their own apartment, embracing the promise of their new life. However, their hope was short-lived as they were both laid off from their jobs. On July 11, 1995, they were seen for the last time. A man named Paul Frederick Runge had offered them a job cleaning his home in Glendale Heights, an opportunity that would lead them into a horrifying ordeal.
Amela was a young woman with her whole life ahead of her. She stood at 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighed approximately 140 pounds, and had brown hair and green eyes. A small mole on her nose was a distinguishing feature. On the day she vanished, she was likely wearing a red cloth wristband, a watch with a large black face, and sunglasses with dark brown lenses. The hope that she and her sister carried with them from Bosnia was brutally extinguished by an act of unimaginable violence.
The terrible truth of what happened to Amela and Dzaneta came to light years later. In 2001, Paul Frederick Runge, a man with a history of violent crimes, confessed to the murders of the Pasanbegovic sisters among several others. He recounted in horrifying detail how he lured them to his home with the false promise of employment. According to his confession, he subjected Amela to a brutal assault before strangling her. He also admitted to murdering her sister, Dzaneta. In a final, horrific act, Runge dismembered their bodies and disposed of their remains in garbage bins, ensuring they would never be found. Runge was convicted for other murders and was initially sentenced to death, but his sentence was later commuted to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The murder charges for Amela and Dzaneta were eventually dropped because a further conviction would not alter his life sentence. Although a DuPage County judge issued death certificates for the sisters based on Runge's confession, their bodies have never been recovered, leaving their family with a painful lack of closure. The case of Amela Pasanbegovic is a heartbreaking story of two sisters who, in their search for peace and a better life, fell victim to a monstrous predator. Their disappearance, once a mystery, was solved through a chilling confession that revealed a brutal and senseless end.
Last Seen: Jul 11, 1995
