(WXYZ) - Two families who had been hoping for closure in a boating mystery are still facing uncertainty.
Police have never solved the mystery of what happened out on Lake Huron to two lawyers from Grosse Pointe Farms.
So when human remains were discovered last spring along the coast – many people wondered if they might belong to Chuck Rutherford Jr.
Today we learned – they do not. And now police have a new mystery on their hands.
Michigan State Police say human remains found last May do not belong to Chuck Rutherford Jr.
Rutherford and his girlfriend, Lana Stempien, vanished during a boating trip to Mackinaw Island in August of 2005. Two weeks after her boat was found idling near Marquette Island, Stempien’s naked body washed ashore.
At his family’s request, a court declared Rutherford legally dead – but his body has never been found.
After several people came forward to allege Chuck and Lana’s relationship had been volatile… police eventually declared the boating mystery a “suspicious incident.”
Last May, a human torso was discovered in Cheboygan County, about 3 miles from the spot where Lana’s body was found. Then in July 2008, a human foot was discovered in Presque Isle County.
Police sent the remains to the University of North Texas Lab for mitochondrial DNA testing.
A DNA match could have ended years of speculation and rumor that perhaps Rutherford had something to do with Lana’s death. But there was no match.
Detectives now know the two body parts are from the same person – but they don’t know who that person is.
Meanwhile, Lana Stempien’s cousin says the news that Rutherford is still missing.. just deepens the mystery.
[
Tam Swanson/Lana’s Cousin] “We were hopeful that his family would have closure, but we didn’t suspect that it was his body at all. "
HC: And why didn’t you think it was him?
[Tam Swanson/Lana’s Cousin] "We just didn’t have, I guess, peace in our hearts that it could have been him. We haven’t heard anything from the state police during this whole investigation. So it would have been a surprise if it was him.”
State police say they do have a forensic profile: They believe the remains belong to a male, who was anywhere from 30 to 60 years old.
They think he was about 5’6” to 5’9” – and he was wearing a size 10 Rebok sandal.
If you have any information about this – please call MSP Cheboygan at 231-627-9973 or MSP Alpena at 989-354-4101.
