Nadine ODell Missing Person Case

Jul 15, 2009

May 30, 2023

Nadine

ODell

67

16

61 inches

105 lbs

White / Caucasian

Female

On a summer morning in 1974, sixteen-year-old Nadine Jean O'Dell vanished while walking in Inkster, Michigan. On August 16th, shortly after 9:30 a.m., she was seen on John Daly Road, heading toward Michigan Avenue. Nadine was on her way to her boyfriend's house in the nearby city of Taylor to babysit his younger siblings. Her boyfriend had planned to meet her partway, but she never arrived at their meeting point. When she didn't show up, he went to her house to find her, which is when her family realized something was wrong. At the time of her disappearance, Nadine was wearing a white t-shirt, faded baggy blue jeans, and a significant piece of jewelry: her boyfriend's Taylor Center High School class ring on a chain around her neck. The white gold ring had a blue stone and a ram's head on it, with "1976" or "76" inscribed. The initial search and investigation into Nadine's disappearance yielded few clues, and the case grew cold over the years. Her family, including her younger sister Brenda Lee Handloser, never gave up hope for answers. Handloser, who was only nine when Nadine went missing, has spoken about her belief that her sister would not have run away and that someone must have seen something that day. The case remained stagnant for decades, a painful mystery for her loved ones and the community. A significant development in the case came in 2018 when authorities announced a possible link between Nadine's disappearance and a suspected serial killer named Arthur Ream. Ream had been convicted for the 1986 murder of thirteen-year-old Cindy Zarzycki and was suspected in the disappearances of several other young girls in the area, including Cynthia Coon, Kimberly King, Kim Larrow, and Kellie Brownlee. While incarcerated, Ream allegedly confessed to his cellmates that he was a serial killer with multiple victims. This information prompted police to excavate a property in Macomb Township where Zarzycki's body had been found, hoping to uncover the remains of other missing girls. Despite a week-long search, no human remains were discovered, and the dig was concluded. Ream died in prison from cancer, leaving the cases of Nadine and the other missing girls officially unsolved. The investigation into what happened to Nadine O'Dell on that August morning remains open, a haunting example of a life cut short and a family left without closure.

Aug 16, 1974

Inkster

Michigan

Wayne County

25836

Inkster Police Department

Inkster

Michigan

Wayne County

48141

26279 Michigan Ave, Michigan

3135639850

Local

Law Enforcement

05-3632

1964-08-17

Inkster Police Department

6569

Blond/Strawberry

Green

Green

07/13/2026