Lisa Mack

Lisa Mack was a beloved mother of two, a cherished aunt, and a familiar face to many in Iron Mountain, Michigan. The 34-year-old female was known as a positive person who would always root for the underdog. Her niece, Melissa Ebsch, remembered her as someone she spoke to multiple times a day, a woman who was so close to her that she had helped raise her. Lisa’s daughter, Ashley Maenpaa, who was 13 at the time of her mother's death, recalled her mom as a "thrifter" and had plans to go to city-wide rummage sales with her on the very day her body was found. Lisa had been a bartender at Mayme's Bar for eight years, and it was there that her life was tragically cut short.

The morning of Saturday, May 15, 1999, which was Mother's Day weekend, began with a grim discovery. Lisa Mack was found stabbed to death inside Mayme's Bar. She had been closing the bar the previous night. Her niece and her niece's mother had driven past the bar earlier that morning on their way out of town and noticed a light was still on, figuring Lisa had simply forgotten to turn it off. They were in Rockford, Illinois, when they received the devastating news. The community was left stunned, and Lisa's family began a journey of grief and a search for answers that would span decades.

The Iron Mountain Police Department immediately launched a homicide investigation. Ed Mattson, who was a patrolman on the overnight shift that night, was recalled to the scene just hours after his shift ended. Over the years, investigators would question several individuals, but one by one, they were ruled out. The investigation, however, eventually focused on a single person of interest who remains the focus today: Rallund Lee Ottlinger. At the time of the murder, Ottlinger lived in Iron Mountain, and police believe Lisa knew him as a patron of Mayme's Bar.

The case has remained open, and no arrests have ever been made. Investigators have pointed out that you only get "one bite at the apple" in a criminal case and want to ensure their case is solid before proceeding to trial. As forensic technologies have advanced, evidence from the scene has been resubmitted for further analysis. Ottlinger has spent most of the past two decades in prison on unrelated charges. He served time in Michigan from 2000 to 2005 for criminal sexual conduct-assault. He was later convicted for the 2006 rape of a woman in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and is incarcerated in the Oshkosh Correctional Institution.

Twenty years after the murder, family and investigators still hold out hope for a resolution. "It's a case that never stops and we always work on," said Ed Mattson, now the Director of Police and Fire Services. "We haven’t forgotten, we never will... Her family deserves closure. Lisa Mack deserves justice." He described the person responsible as a "monster," a word he does not use lightly. Lisa's daughter, Ashley, now nearly the same age her mother was when she was killed, expressed the family's desire for a careful and correct resolution. "My family wants answers, but we need to do it right," she said.

The pain of the loss remains sharp for Lisa's loved ones. "I couldn't imagine what she thought, knowing she was going to die," her daughter Ashley has said. Her niece Melissa copes by remembering the good times and what a wonderful person her aunt was. The family encourages people with any information or even just stories about Lisa to share them on the "Justice for Lisa Mack" Facebook page, keeping her memory alive and the public's attention on her unsolved murder.

As of October 2026, the investigation into Lisa Mack's murder is ongoing. Rallund Lee Ottlinger remains the sole person of interest, though he has never been charged in connection with the crime. The Iron Mountain Police Department continues its work on the cold case, hopeful that new technology or a new tip will finally lead to a breakthrough and bring a measure of peace to a family that has waited more than two decades for justice.