NILES, Mich. — A group of determined students from Brandywine High School are breathing new life into the unsolved murder of Janette Roberson, who was brutally killed in the basement of a Reed City business more than 40 years ago.
On Jan. 19, 1983, 27-year-old Janette Roberson was found murdered in the basement pet department of a Gambles store where she worked. Despite the police investigation, the case remains unsolved.
Brandywine High students Steffany Cruz and Chelsy Olson are part of an investigative journalism class under teacher Bob Ruff's guidance.
Ruff, a successful true crime podcaster, joined the district last year part time. This year marks the first time they have tried running the unique career- and technical-education-based course for students.
"We don't want Janette to get lost in the media as just another 27-year-old woman who got murdered," Olson told FOX 17 Friday morning. "She was a sister, friend, mom and wife."
Through a Freedom of Information Act request, Olson obtained previously unreleased police reports.
“Other people from the media, professional broadcast media folks, have never been able to get their hands on that file, and she was able to do it,” Ruff explained.
Olson and Cruz recently took a trip up to Reed City to participate in a memorial walk organized by loved ones of Roberson.
While in the area, they were able to visit the scene of the crime — taking pictures in the basement space, that remained largely unchanged since her body was discovered decades ago.
Their findings will be compiled into a six-part podcast series called “Underestimated.”
The students chose the name of the series based on how they feel they are typically perceived by older generations.
“I have teenagers of my own through this age, and I always feel like people look at them like they're not capable of doing anything, [like] they're just staring at a screen,” Ruff said.
“They're going to be taking an entire year to investigate some situation, some issue outside of these school walls where they can make a positive impact over the course of the year.”
The students are hopeful that they can move the Roberson case in a positive direction.
“How did it all start? When was she noticed that she wasn't there? What was happening in the store?” Cruz said. "Even if we can't solve it, others will pick up where we left off and hopefully solve it.”
The students plan to start pushing out podcast episodes in the next few weeks here.
Within about a week, you should be able to find an active feed for the "Underestimated" podcast.
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