Katharina Buczek
But, after that evening, she was never seen alive again.
Instead, her body was discovered the following day– February 12, 1983– by three young boys.
Michelle was found floating nude in the Caloosahatchee River, wearing only her sandals and earrings.
Her autopsy revealed that she had been dead for about twelve hours before the discovery and had suffered numerous traumatic blows from a heavy pipe-shaped object– possibly a tire iron or large screwdriver.
In an interview with News-Press following the tragedy, boyfriend Mickey explained why he was initially not phased when Michelle did not return home on the night of February 11.
“We had a little fight just before she left for town, and I just thought she was messing with my head. The next day– I got real drunk Friday night– I was reading the paper, and I read about the cops finding this body,” Mickey began.
“And when I got to the description of the woman and [learned] about the tattoo on her left shoulder, I got real scared, and I called the cops,” he continued.
Later that day, Mickey was tasked with the difficult responsibility of identifying Michelle’s body.
And upon launching an investigation, authorities did believe that she might have left Pic-Wic with a twenty-five-year-old man who offered to give her a ride home.
The man was of medium build and had sandy brown hair and a full red beard.
Despite the possible suspect, though, Michelle’s case has remained cold for over thirty-nine years.
