LIVINGSTON COUNTY, Mich. – The family of a woman who has been missing for nearly 35 years is speaking out after investigators say there may be a connection to another cold case.
Paige Renkoski has been missing since May 24, 1990. She was last seen standing on the side of I-96 after visiting a friend in Canton Township.
Renkoski’s vehicle was found on the side of I-96 near the Fowlerville exit the day she disappeared.
The car was running, and the windshield wipers were on. Her shoes, purse, and a beer she purchased in Canton Township were inside the vehicle.
The search for answers in the decades-old disappearance of 30-year-old Paige Renkoski continues as investigators examine potential connections to another cold case: the rape and murder of 31-year-old Beverly Wivell in 1989.
A Possible Connection
The Livingston County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed that Renkoski’s case remains open and that they are “investigating similarities” between the two cases.
While details remain limited, this latest development has renewed both hope and uncertainty for Renkoski’s family.
“It’s like a roller coaster,” Nikki Hollis, Renkoski’s niece, said. “There are some similarities, but there are also differences.”
Prosecutors called 69-year-old Buster Robbins a “person of interest” in Renkoski’s case earlier this week after a judge decided there was not enough evidence to send him to trial for Wivell’s murder.
Robbins was recently arrested for the 1989 rape and murder of Wivell after DNA genealogy results led police to Robbins last year.
However, a judge ruled there was insufficient evidence to send him to trial for Wivell’s murder.
Prosecutors believe Wivell was abducted from Griffin Park in Canton, raped, and shot twice at close range with a .45-caliber.
Her body was found along the side of a road in Superior Township.
Wivell’s car was found in Griffin Park, still running with her purse inside and the driver’s door open.
A witness reported seeing a car similar to the car Robbins owned at the time, as his wife, who the defense said has now filed for divorce, also confirms.
According to prosecutors, a .45-caliber bullet was found inside Robbins’ home.
But the defense has argued that Robbins had consensual sex with Wivell sometime within the five days before her death and “honestly doesn’t remember it.”
“He cheated on his wife, and he doesn’t want to admit that,” said Tim Turkelson, his defense attorney. “It doesn’t make him a killer. What they’ve got is a man who cheated on his wife. That’s what they’ve got.”
Nine months after Wivell’s disappearance, Paige Renkoski also went missing.
The day Paige Disappeared
On May 24, 1990, Renkoski was last seen after driving her mother to Detroit Metro Airport in the morning and later visiting a friend in Canton.
Prosecutors said she had been to the same park as Wivell but did not provide details.
She was later spotted at a party store in the same area before being seen standing on the shoulder of I-96 near Fowlerville, speaking with two men (one report also says one man) next to a maroon minivan.
Her car was found still running, abandoned on the side of the highway, with her shoes and purse left inside.
Despite numerous tips and searches, no trace of her has ever been found.
In 1999, an anonymous letter with a hand-drawn map was sent to a Michigan State Police sergeant, claiming to contain new information about Renkoski’s disappearance.
The map pointed to an area in Conway Township, an area that had already been searched and was searched again.
The pain of not knowing
The lack of answers has left an indescribable void for Hollis and her family.
Paige went missing before she was born, so she never met her aunt.
Despite this, her absence is deeply felt by her and her other family members.
“To me, it’s more of an ambiguous loss,” Hollis said. “It’s not something you know for sure that you should mourn. My grandmother passed several years ago, and we decided to do a dual memorial for her and Paige, presuming she was deceased. But with a missing person, you can’t completely move on because there’s still that little possibility.”
Paige Renkoski’s sister, Michelle Hollis, spoke publicly about the family’s frustration back in 2015, saying, “We haven’t had much, any new information, really, in quite some time.”
They have all vowed never to give up their search for answers despite the “anxiety-inducing waves” of hope and disappointment they receive.
The rollercoaster of emotion
While the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office is now investigating whether Robbins may be connected to Renkoski’s case, for Paige’s family, this is a sign of hope no matter what because Hollis said she believes keeping Paige’s story alive is crucial.
“I always see a positive in people sharing articles, in news stations continuing to look into it,” she said. “Keeping her story alive is the most important thing because somebody out there knows something. My whole family believes that.”
Do you know something?
Over the years, there have been hints that someone might have crucial information about what happened to Paige Renkoski. Hollis asks anyone with knowledge, even if they believe it to be insignificant, to come forward.
“If anyone has heard something—maybe just a conversation that seemed off—I would encourage them to say something,” she said. “People hesitate because they don’t want to ruin someone’s reputation if they’re wrong, but the risk of not speaking up is far greater.”
She added that she hopes others will come forward for Wivell’s family, as they share a painful connection. Both remain unresolved.
“Even though we don’t know them personally, I think our families are connected in that way,” Hollis said. “You don’t really get it unless you’ve been through it. So, I support them and send them my best wishes.”
Remembering Paige Renkoski
Despite the focus on her disappearance, Hollis wants people to remember Paige Renkoski for the person they knew -- a fun-loving, easygoing ray of sunshine in so many lives.
“She wanted to help others and bring light into people’s lives,” Hollis said. “I hope that, at some point, we can get closure and know that the life she did have was well spent.”
Anyone with information regarding Paige Renkoski’s case is encouraged to contact the Livingston County Sheriff’s Department.
Anyone with information regarding Beverly Wivell’s case is also asked to contact the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office.
Other allegations against Robbins
Prosecutors said after doing a search warrant on Robbins’ phone, they “have evidence that he has been actively perpetrating CSCs on his wife from other men.”
Jacob Kennedy, assistant prosecuting attorney, said earlier this week they believe Robbins had been having other men sneak into the home and “have sex with his wife without her consent.”
He called that investigation “active” and “ongoing.”
In response to the new allegations and potential connection, Robbins’ attorney, Tim Turkelson, told Local 4: “I don’t buy it. The prosecution is just trying to find other cases and then provide some evidence. Put your money where your mouth is. Saying anything else is just disparaging his name.”
Robbins is due back in court on April 8 for a status conference.
Similarities between cases
Around nine months before Renkoski vanished, a woman was abducted, sexually assaulted, and murdered in Washtenaw County.
Beverly Wivell was found dead on the side of the road in Superior Township in September 1989.
The Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office said Wivell was sleeping in her vehicle in Canton Township after dropping her son off at school when she was abducted from her car, sexually assaulted, and shot before being left on the side of the road.
Later that night, her vehicle was discovered in Canton Township. It was still running, the driver’s door was open, and her purse was inside.
DNA taken from a rape kit completed in 1989 was sent in for forensic genealogy testing in 2024. According to court documents, that DNA was linked to Buster Robbins of Almont.
Robbins was charged with the murder of Wivell. On March 18, 2025, a judge declined to send him to trial. The judge said there was not enough evidence to bind Robbins over on an open murder charge. Prosecutors are appealing the decision to the circuit court.
Robbins is being held without bond while prosecutors appeal the decision. The judge agreed with prosecutors, labeling Robbins a “serious danger” and a flight risk. A judge is expected to review the case at 9 a.m. on April 8, 2025.
The Livingston County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to Local 4 that the Paige Renkowski case is open and has been open. They said Buster Robbins is being investigated because the Wivell and Renkoski cases are similar.
---> Man accused in 1989 Washtenaw County murder being looked at for disappearance of Paige Renkoski
What we know about the day Paige Renkoski disappeared
Renkoski drove her mother to Detroit Metro Airport that morning, then visited with a friend who lived in Canton Township.
She was seen at a party store in Canton Township later that afternoon, where she purchased a beer. Witnesses told police they saw Renkoski on the side of the freeway speaking with a man next to a maroon minivan.
Her vehicle was found stopped and running on the westbound shoulder of I-96, about a half a mile from the Fowlerville exit. The beer she purchased, her shoes and her purse were found inside the vehicle. Renkoski has never been located.
Michelle Hollis is Renkoski’s younger sister, and she spoke with Local 4 in 2019.
“I mean, somebody knows something,” Hollis said in 2019. “Somebody got her to pull over at 3 o’clock in the afternoon on a freeway. I mean, how does that even happen?”
Breaking down the timeline:
- Renkoski left her mother at the airport around 11:30 a.m. Then, she went to visit a friend in the Canton Township area. She left her friend’s home at around 2 p.m.
- She was spotted at a party store west of I-275 in Canton Township between 2:30 p.m. and 2:45 p.m., where she purchased a beer.
- Witnesses reported seeing her standing on the shoulder of the freeway speaking with a man and standing next to a maroon minivan.
- The silver/gray 2-door 1986 Oldsmobile Cutlass she had been driving was found on the side of I-96 near the Fowlerville exit at 7:48 p.m. that same day. The car was running and the windshield wipers were on due to a rainstorm. Her shoes, purse, and the beer she purchased were inside the vehicle.
Renkoski had two screws in her left knee, a long scar on the inside of her right arm, and a scar on her left leg.
She was last seen wearing a white V-neck sweater and was wearing it backward. She was wearing black and multi-color print pants. She was also wearing a dark green medium-length necklace with gold beads. She had green and gold earrings to match.
