Murder of Janette Roberson

On January 19, 1983, Janette Roberson, a 27-year-old pet-department employee, was murdered at a Gambles department store in Reed City, Michigan, United States. Roberson was attacked in the store's basement during business hours and was found by coworkers. Despite the number of customers and employees in the building, investigators found no witness who had heard the attack. Investigators interviewed numerous witnesses and possible suspects, released a composite sketch of an unidentified man and later submitted evidence for renewed forensic testing. No one has been arrested or charged, and the Michigan State Police continues to list the killing as a cold case.

Background

Roberson was born on October 25, 1955. She and her husband, Alvin Roberson, had two young children. The family had moved to Reed City during the year before her death.

Friends and relatives described Roberson as an animal lover. One friend recalled that Roberson had nursed an injured baby bird until it could be released. She had worked for approximately six months in the pet department of the Gambles store in downtown Reed City. The department occupied a roughly room in the basement and contained pet supplies and stock shelves. It was separated from the store's main retail area on the floor above.

Murder

Roberson was working alone in the basement pet department on Wednesday, January 19, 1983. The store remained open and was busy. The lead investigator later estimated that more than 100 people entered the business that day, while employees were occupied unloading three freight trucks. The attack occurred during the afternoon, while customers continued shopping upstairs. Roberson was subsequently discovered on the basement floor by coworkers.

Contemporary newspaper accounts described the cause of death as a blow to the head with a heavy blunt object. Police initially declined to say whether Roberson had been sexually assaulted. Some additional details later became public after an autopsy report was mistakenly released to her family; later accounts reported that she had also been stabbed multiple times with several objects found in the store and sexually assaulted. Police have continued to withhold other details in order to preserve their ability to assess information supplied by witnesses or a possible confession.

Investigation

Initial investigation

The investigation involved the Reed City Police Department, the Osceola County Sheriff's Department and the Michigan State Police. The Reed City Chamber of Commerce offered a $2,000 reward for information leading to a conviction. Despite the number of customers and employees in the building, investigators were unable to identify a witness who had heard the attack. Police tried to account for people who had entered the store during the relevant period and repeatedly interviewed witnesses and possible suspects.

Shortly after the killing, police sought two women who had bought aquarium equipment that day. The women were wanted as potential witnesses and were not considered suspects. Investigators also sought a man who had purchased gerbils from Roberson that morning. A man associated with a green truck was questioned but not taken into custody.

Several months later, police released a composite sketch of a person they wished to identify. The man was described as white, approximately tall and , with sandy-blond hair; he may have been wearing a blue jacket. He was never publicly identified.

Police initially investigated Roberson's husband, Alvin, and a 2020 retrospective reported that he was soon ruled out as a suspect. He moved away from Reed City with the couple's children after the murder. Investigators did not publicly identify another suspect or establish a motive. Over the following decades, police interviewed and re-interviewed numerous people but did not obtain enough evidence to make an arrest. In 2020, Michigan State Police Detective Sergeant Mike Stephens stated that investigators would not regard anyone as conclusively cleared until the perpetrator was convicted.

Cold-case reviews

DNA evidence from the case was examined using newer techniques and entered into national databases, but as of 2014 it had not been matched to an identified person. Following renewed publicity in 2014, police said that they had received names and information warranting further examination. Investigators also began digitizing the typewritten case files to make the records easier to search and cross-reference.

The Michigan State Police formed a cold-case task force in 2015. As part of its review of Roberson's murder, detectives assembled background material and considered clothing and other retained evidence for resubmission to the state police laboratory. Investigators examined trace evidence, including hair and fibers, and assessed whether advances in DNA testing could be applied to the case. By January 2020, the review had not produced a newly identified suspect.

In 2017, Michigan State Police investigators said that material collected in 1983 was being reviewed to determine whether it had previously been tested and whether newer forensic methods could yield additional information. The renewed television coverage generated tips that were passed to police.

In 2025, Michigan State Police Detective Sergeant Aaron Tubergen said that the agency had renewed its emphasis on cold cases and that he was reviewing the Roberson case. He said investigators first catalogued the surviving records and evidence before deciding what additional work could be done, while limiting disclosure to protect the investigation. The case remained unsolved in January 2026.

Public attention

Justice for Janette

Roberson's relatives and members of the Reed City community began an annual event, the Justice for Janette walk, in 2014. The walk follows a route through downtown Reed City to the former Gambles building and is intended to keep the case in public view and encourage people with information to contact investigators. Roberson's sister, Lana Jarvie, became the principal organizer of the event. The twelfth walk was held in January 2025, and another was held on the 43rd anniversary of the killing in January 2026.

The first walk drew approximately 40 participants, including about a dozen people who had known Roberson. Organizers asked attendees to record memories or information that might assist the investigation. Police said that publicity surrounding the first event produced names and possible leads, and subsequent walks continued to generate tips. The event later broadened its message to include other unsolved homicides in Osceola County.

Student investigation

In the 2024–2025 school year, students in an investigative-journalism class at Brandywine High School in Niles, Michigan, examined the case. They filed public-records requests, interviewed witnesses and investigators, consulted criminal profilers, and visited the former store basement, which remained largely unchanged. One student obtained previously unreleased police reports through a Freedom of Information Act request.

The students presented their work in a six-part podcast series titled Underestimated. In 2026, Decker also released a new season of her podcast Down & Away revisiting the murder using documents newly released by the Michigan State Police.

See also

• List of unsolved murders (1980–1999)