ADA TOWNSHIP, Mich. — For decades, the disappearance of 14-year-old Deanie Peters has remained one of West Michigan's most haunting unsolved cases. While many know she was last seen at a sporting event at Forest Hills Central Middle School on Feb. 5, 1981, investigators are now sharing previously unreleased details about her final days and hours.
These details are a combination of evidence, witness interviews, and re-interviews, done by detectives over the years. The Kent County Sheriff's Office hopes these new revelations may jog someone's memory and provide the missing piece in this decades-old puzzle.
For their privacy, we have removed the names of anyone who was not able to speak with FOX 17 on the record.
WATCH: Never-before-released details from Deanie Peters case provide a timeline of her last-known days
The teen's final weekend
At the Kent County Sheriff's Office, Paul VanRhee, the case's lead detective, painted a picture of Deanie's life in the days before she vanished. She had an active social life with friends across different age groups.
“I think knowing what she was doing the weekend before gives perspective on what her life was like," VanRhee said. "It gives perspective knowing that she did have a lot of different friends at different age groups, and potentially then a lot of different situations that could have led to [her disappearance]."
On Friday, Jan. 30, Deanie was dropped off at a friend's house for a sleepover. They attended a high school basketball game that night where they met up with a group of boys and went cruising around Grand Rapids. Deanie and her friend were later brought back to the friend's house.
Saturday, Jan. 31, Deanie went to a roller rink near Woodland Mall and became "fast friends" with someone who had a crush on the same boy. The pair planned a sleepover for the following Saturday, February 7. Later that night, Deanie attended a party in Caledonia with Kathy Weeks Kingma.
"She was my best friend," Kingma told us during our interview. "She had the most contagious laugh. We had the greatest memories listening to Meatloaf."
Sunday, Feb. 1, Deanie spent time with a boy at her house. She gave him a gold necklace and they talked about being boyfriend and girlfriend.
Wednesday, Feb. 4, Deanie babysat at a home two houses down from her own.
The final day: February 5,1981
On the day Deanie was last seen, she rode the bus to Forest Hills Central Middle School. A typical Thursday in February, the weather was wintry and cold with a high of 23 and a low of 7 degrees. Nearly half an inch of snowfall was recorded and the sun set at 4:58 p.m.
At lunch, Deanie spoke with Robert Alexander, a classmate. Alexander, who described himself as an acquaintance rather than a friend, said Deanie was friendly with everyone.
"Despite her having her friend group, she wasn't so stuck into her little cliques or friend groups to have conversations with other people," Alexander said.
Detective VanRhee said Alexander told investigators he had the feeling, based on their conversation, Deanie was going to meet somebody that evening.
"He had mentioned it was potentially a gentleman; somebody she thought was cute," VanRhee said.
The school day ended at 2:35 p.m.
After the final bell, Deanie talked with Kingma while waiting for the bus and later called her from home, saying she would call back.
"There is a part of you that is still 14 years old, that you go back to that moment that time, and it never leaves you," Kingma said.
Deanie made several phone calls that afternoon, scheduling a potential sleepover that weekend, asking family friend Ariadyne Herbert about going to the library that night and possibly babysitting for another family.
New witness accounts
Around 4:35 p.m., Deanie returned to Forest Hills Central Middle School with her mother Mary, younger brother William and Ariadyne's son for the boys' wrestling practice.
"There's a lot of activity going on at the school," VanRhee said. "There's a lot of people coming in and out at that point in time."
The school was busy with multiple activities including a middle school band practice, high school night classes and an aerobics class in the same gym as wrestling practice.
David Herbert, Ariadyne's husband, told detectives that when he arrived at the school he noticed a small, intermediate-sized yellow-green car with its passenger door open and no one inside.
Meanwhile, inside the school, Deanie brought her mother to a classroom to show her a ceiling tile she had decorated. Mary Peters still has that tile today. Then, they stopped to watch the aerobics class in the gym.
The final moments
While watching the aerobics class, Deanie told her mother she needed to use the bathroom. As she walked out of the gym, Ariadyne Herbert saw Deanie and spoke with her briefly.
"'I’ll be right back.'" said Ariadyne, recalling the conversation. "'I'll be right back. Talk to mom.'"
Though neither of them knew it at the time, this would be the last time they saw Deanie.
Mary Peters continues to grapple with that night's events.
"Why did I ask her to go with me to the school that night, right? What if? What if? What if? You know you can't, you can't do that," she said.
Kingma, too, continues to feel the sudden finality of that day. She remembers her friend had plans for that night, the next day and the weekend. She says there was no indication Deanie planned to run away.
"My heart hurts for anyone who ever loved her, because I don't see how you just dismiss someone," she said. "How do you just put it under the rug? I don't get that. I don't get that."
Possible clues and seeking answers
While it's often been said that Deanie was never seen again after leaving the gym, a timeline from the Kent County Sheriff's Office reveals other people saw and talked with her as she walked through the hallways and, eventually, left the school.
Witness accounts shared with FOX 17
A participant in the aerobics class, Sue Duyser remembers seeing Deanie and her mother in the back of the gym.
"I wouldn't have even noticed, except for they were very nice looking and dressed well," Duyser said.
She recounted what she said initially said to investigators, including the detectives who, upon Deanie's disappearance, responded to the school that night.
"I would hope anybody who has any information would help that family get some kind of peace," she said.
When Duyser saw Deanie walk out of the gym, it began what we're now learning was a path through the school.
"That's the last time [Mary] and Ariadyne saw her, but there were others that did see her after that point in time,” VanRhee said to FOX 17.
Where is Deanie?
‘The time is now’: Lead detective in Deanie Peters case opens evidence to FOX 17
According to the sheriff’s office timeline:
- A student saw Deanie walking west toward the science room where her locker was located.
- In the women's bathroom, a mother tending to her young son saw Deanie. She asked Deanie, who was using a hairbrush, how she was doing. "Good," Deanie said.
- Near the bathroom, Robert Alexander, who was getting ready to leave the wrestling practice, saw Deanie. He told detectives he got the impression that Deanie was planning on going outside, potentially to meet someone who might have had a "nice car," according to VanRhee. Robert had not thought Deanie planned on leaving the property nor did he think she appeared to be in danger.
- Deanie, according to VanRhee, likely walked west then south through the school's hallways as parents who were in the cafeteria did not see her pass through the room.
- At the school's southwest doors, a student waiting for a ride after band practice saw Deanie, who addressed her by name, saying, "Hey," and, "See you later."
This student, now an adult, told detectives she saw Deanie walk out of the school alone. In the parking lot, she also recalled seeing a larger, gray car with a long hood and its headlights on and pointed toward the school.
"She was very adamant she could recall that interaction, again, because Deanie was a popular middle school girl," VanRhee said. "Those are the types of little details that stick with somebody, and that's what she recalls."
To this day, though, what happened to Deanie after she walked out of the school remains a mystery to the detective.
“We don't have any information of anybody seeing her after she walked out of those doors," VanRhee said.
Standout sightings: Boys at the front doors
Forty-five years later, VanRhee says he's still looking for the missing piece that may put together the complete puzzle and solve the case. This piece, he says, could be connected to one or more standout sightings at the school that night, still shrouded in relative mystery.
Decades after Deanie's disappearance, a male janitor told detectives he saw three or four boys outside the building that night. They were banging on its front doors near the media center and said they wanted to talk to 'Dean Peters,' which was the name Deanie would often go by with her friends.
"I believe he even said they were wearing high school letter jackets," VanRhee said.
As of now, those individuals have not been identified.
Kathy Demond, another janitor at the school, was also working that night and is named in the case file. FOX 17 interviewed her at her home. She can still remember what her co-worker said.
"Oh, I've thought about it quite a bit,' Demond said.
"There were some older boys down outside the main office," she said, recalling the conversation. "They were outside the building, and he wanted to go lock those doors."
Standout sightings: Cars in the parking lot
When Deanie didn't return to the gym, Mary began to search for her daughter. Soon after, the Herberts started looking.
In a more recent interview, David Herbert told detectives he recalled seeing four boys leaving through one of the front doors near the media center. In the parking lot, they approached a yellow, Nova-style car with its rear hatch open. One of these boys closed the it as they got inside.
By the time Herbert reached the front door, the car was gone.
VanRhee believes the janitor's and Herbert's sightings are connected.
"It's my belief that it was likely the same event," he said.
While he can't say for certain these observations played a role in Deanie's disappearance, he says it could very well be "vital" to the investigation.
"These are details we're providing in hopes that maybe somebody else also saw a vehicle, similar or whatever the case may be, and can get us additional details we can follow up on," he said.
In our interview, VanRhee shared one final witness account with FOX 17.
A woman told detectives she saw a "souped up," green car with a loud exhaust driving over from the high school. Then, she saw a "young female" with "long, dark hair" walk out of the middle school and get into the car. This person, according to the witness, was wearing a coat and scarf.
"Then the car took off," VanRhee said.
Was that Deanie?
According to the detective, the timeline of events at the school fits to where the young female who got into the car "could have been" Deanie. While this standout sighting and others may not be directly related to her disappearance, "they're definitely specific details" that "could lead" the sheriff's office to additional witnesses and, potentially, a closed case.
"There's no way that we've talked to every single person that was there that night," VanRhee said. "I think the focus needs to be on going back to that day, that specific time, and starting from there."
The goal of going public with this information isn't to focus on theories, he says, but to help someone remember a detail that could be crucial to solving the case.
"There's just a piece of the puzzle that we don't have," VanRhee said. "But I also think that just one piece of the puzzle might be all we need to get to where we do know."
"I always say, or it's our belief, that somewhere in that information, the answer lies."
WATCH: Where is Deanie?
The full, unabridged special report from FOX 17
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
WATCH: FOX 17's full report on Deanie Peter's 1981 disappearance
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