FOREST HILLS, Mich — Four and a half decades after 14-year-old Deanie Peters vanished from a Forest Hills school, a West Michigan community continues to hold out hope for answers in her unsolved disappearance.
The Disappearance
Peters disappeared Feb. 5, 1981, after going to watch her younger brother's wrestling practice at Forest Hills Central Middle School. The last time her mother saw her, Peters said she was going to the bathroom.
"We had not heard of anything like that since we lived here," said Nancy Sue Nagel, a lifelong West Michigander and member of St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Forest Hills, where Peters' family attended services.
Community Search Effort
The disappearance prompted a massive community search effort that Nagel said she will never forget.
"There were a lot of us," Nagel recalls of the search. "I went into the woods myself, and kept thinking, 'what am I going to do if I find anything?'"
"But then we went across the street, [it] was open to the field where we walked through to get to the school. So that's where we went, hand in hand, and covered that whole area," Nagel said.
Despite extensive searching, no trace of Peters has been found. She was legally declared dead in 1991.
"Looking for someone was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, and maybe I shoved that away because it was really difficult that we couldn't help bring some closure," Nagel said.
WATCH THE VIDEO STORY
A Different Time
The case profoundly affected the close-knit community, where Nagel said life was different in 1981.
"It was freer, I don't think we had the worries we had now," she said. "Our son and his best friend would take off on their bikes, and who knew where they would be, and we didn't worry about it."
Nagel only knew the Peters family briefly, as they were relatively new to the area.
"I only remember Deanie because she was just about the age of going into confirmation here, and my kids were just a little bit behind her," Nagel said.
She can only imagine this impact this had on the Peters' family and those who love Deanie.
"It's still hard to fathom when you just disappear like that. I don't know what, how her parents survived it," Nagel said. "They pretty much disappeared after this happened."
Scholarship Fund
St. Matthew Lutheran Church created the Deanie Peters Scholarship Fund after her disappearance, which provides financial assistance to church members attending Christian elementary or secondary schools. The fund remains active today.
For more information on the Deanie Peters Fund, click here.
Hope Remains
The community hasn't given up hope for answers.
"There's a hope. We're not going to quit hoping that we don't get some answers, and I'm just really thankful that the police haven't forgotten either," Nagel said.
Detectives continue to investigate Deanie's disappearance. In partnership with the Kent County Sheriff's Office, FOX 17 got an exclusive look at the case's evidence. They hope that sharing new details will finally lead to answers. You can watch Where is Deanie? Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
Submit a tip
The Kent County Sheriff's Office is actively pursuing any information in the disappearance of Deanie Peters. If you have a tip, you are encouraged to contact detectives through the methods below.
- Call: (616) 632-6125
- Online form
- Silent Observer: (616) 774-2345 or online form
Follow FOX 17: Facebook - X (formerly Twitter) - Instagram - YouTube
