Key facts
- Name: Paige Marie Renkoski
- Born: February 2, 1960
- Age at disappearance: 30
- Last seen: May 24, 1990, on westbound I-96 near Fowlerville, Michigan
- Location: Interstate 96 near Fowlerville, Livingston County, Michigan
- Description: 5’6″, 125 lbs, blond/strawberry-blond hair, blue eyes
- Status: Still missing; police have ruled it a homicide, but no body has been found and no one has been charged
- Investigating agency: Livingston County Sheriff’s Office — 517-546-2440; coldcasetips@livgov.com; Crime Stoppers — 1-800-SPEAK-UP
The car on the shoulder, engine running
On the morning of May 24, 1990, Paige Renkoski drove her mother to Detroit Metro Airport. Then she visited a friend in Canton Township. Then she bought beer at a party store. Then she got on westbound I-96, heading home.
Around 3:30 that afternoon, her silver-gray 1986 Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais — a two-door — was found on the shoulder of I-96 near Fowlerville. The engine was running. The windshield wipers were on; it was storming. Her purse was inside. Her shoes were inside. The beer was inside.
Paige was not.
Witnesses said they’d seen her talking to men next to a maroon van or minivan. The responding officer had the car towed. He didn’t process it as a suspicious scene. By the time anyone understood what had happened on that shoulder in the rain, the rain had done its work.
The investigation that never closed
More than a thousand tips came in. In 1999, a hand-drawn map led searchers to a property. In 2011, divers searched a pond in Handy Township. Police eventually ruled the case a homicide — a determination that says, without a body and without charges, that investigators are certain Paige was killed.
Her sister, Michele Renkoski-Hollis, became the family’s public voice. Their mother died in December 2017 without ever knowing what happened to her daughter; the family held a memorial service for Paige on February 2, 2018 — what would have been her 58th birthday. Crime Stoppers offers $2,500 for information.
In 2025, Livingston County Lieutenant Matt Young gave the case’s bleakest honest assessment: “This case will be solved on somebody who gives a deathbed confession.” Thirty-six years on, that’s where it stands — waiting on someone’s conscience.
What the scene said
Read the scene again, because it matters. Engine running, wipers on, in a storm: Paige stopped the car herself, or was forced to stop it, and left it in a hurry — or was taken from it in a hurry. Purse inside, shoes inside: she didn’t leave voluntarily. A woman doesn’t walk away from her car on an interstate in a rainstorm without her shoes.
The witnesses who saw her talking to men by a maroon van or minivan are the last eyes on Paige Renkoski. Who were they? What did they say to her? In 1990, on a highway shoulder, a woman alone with car trouble — or a woman being talked out of her car — and then nothing.
The officer who towed the car without treating it as a crime scene made a decision in minutes that cost the investigation years. Evidence washed away in the rain. The car’s interior, processed late or never, gave up whatever it might have held.
The sister and the deathbed confession
Michele Renkoski-Hollis has been the public voice of this case for decades — the sister who wouldn’t let Paige become a file number. When their mother died in December 2017, Michele organized the memorial service on February 2, 2018, what would have been Paige’s 58th birthday. A memorial without a body, for a woman the police say was murdered, whose killer has never been named. The family buried their grief in public because there was nowhere else to put it.
Lieutenant Matt Young’s 2025 assessment — “This case will be solved on somebody who gives a deathbed confession” — is the most honest thing anyone in law enforcement has said about Paige Renkoski in 36 years. It’s an admission that the investigation has run its course through conventional means: 1,000+ tips, the 1999 map search, the 2011 pond search in Handy Township, the homicide ruling. Everything checkable has been checked. What remains is human conscience — someone who was in or near that maroon van on May 24, 1990, someone who has carried it for 36 years and might, at the end, decide not to carry it anymore.
The Crime Stoppers $2,500 reward is still on the table. The Livingston County Sheriff’s Office still lists coldcasetips@livgov.com as a working tip line — an email address, in 2026, still monitored for a 1990 case. That, more than anything, is the measure of this investigation: it has never closed, never been shelved, never been surrendered. It’s just waiting — for a conscience, a confession, a call.
Paige was 30. She drove her mother to the airport that morning — a daughter’s ordinary kindness, the last ordinary thing. Then Canton Township, the party store, the beer, I-96 westbound, the rain. The witnesses saw her talking to men by the van. Somewhere in the world is a person who knows what those men said to her. Lieutenant Young is betting that person will talk before they die.
The maroon van has never been found either — or rather, no maroon van has ever been tied to that shoulder on that afternoon. In 1990, on I-96 near Fowlerville, a van was just a van. No cameras, no plate readers, just witnesses’ memories of a color and a shape, and a woman talking to men beside it in the rain.
Theories
Abduction and homicide by the men at the van
Police have ruled it a homicide. The witness accounts of Paige talking to men next to a maroon van or minivan, combined with the scene — running car, purse and shoes left behind — point to a forced taking. Evidence level: This is the official investigative stance. No suspects have been publicly named; no one has been charged. Any living person connected to this case is presumed innocent.
A staged stop by someone she knew
Evidence level: Speculative; no evidence has identified anyone Paige knew on that highway that day.
She left voluntarily
Evidence level: Incompatible with the scene — running engine, wipers on, purse and shoes in the car, in a rainstorm on an interstate shoulder.
Have information?
Contact the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office at 517-546-2440 or coldcasetips@livgov.com, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.
In an emergency, dial 911.
Timeline
- February 2, 1960 — Paige Marie Renkoski is born.
- May 24, 1990, morning — Paige drives her mother to Detroit Metro Airport, visits a friend in Canton Township, and buys beer at a party store.
- May 24, 1990, ~3:30 p.m. — Her 1986 Olds Cutlass Calais is found on the shoulder of westbound I-96 near Fowlerville: engine running, wipers on (storming), purse, shoes, and beer inside. Witnesses report seeing her talking to men next to a maroon van/minivan. The car is towed without being processed as a suspicious scene.
- 1990s — 1,000+ tips; police rule the case a homicide.
- 1999 — A hand-drawn map leads to a property search.
- 2011 — Pond searched in Handy Township.
- December 2017 — Paige’s mother dies; memorial service held February 2, 2018.
- 2025 — Lt. Matt Young (Livingston County): “This case will be solved on somebody who gives a deathbed confession.”
- Today — Still missing.
FAQ
Is Paige Renkoski still missing?
Yes. As of October 2026, Paige Renkoski remains missing. She vanished in May 1990 and has never been found.
Was Paige Renkoski ever found?
No. No trace of Paige has been found in the thirty-six years since she disappeared.
What happened to Paige Renkoski?
Her car was found on the shoulder of westbound I-96 near Fowlerville, Michigan, on May 24, 1990 — engine running, wipers on, her purse and shoes inside. Witnesses saw her talking to men next to a maroon van or minivan. Police have ruled it a homicide, but no body has been found and no one has been charged.
How old would Paige Renkoski be today?
She was born February 2, 1960, so she would be 66 years old in 2026.
Was Paige Renkoski murdered?
Police have classified the case as a homicide. However, no body has been recovered and no one has been charged, and she remains officially listed as a missing person.
Is there a reward for Paige Renkoski?
Yes. Crime Stoppers offers $2,500 for information.
Sources
Official / law enforcement:
– Livingston County Sheriff’s Office — 517-546-2440; coldcasetips@livgov.com
– Crime Stoppers — 1-800-SPEAK-UP ($2,500 reward)
Reference:
– Wikipedia — “Disappearance of Paige Renkoski”
Found an error? Tell us via the About page and we will fix it promptly and note the change here. Last verified October 2026.