Mich. man charged in 30-year-old cold case murder

6/6/2013

Nearly 30 years after the body of Lucas County woman was found buried in a drainage ditch along Archbold-Whitehouse Road, a Michigan man has been indicted for her murder.

Andrew Gustafson, 56, of Birch Run, Mich. was arrested today at his home on two counts of aggravated murder and one count of murder for the stabbing death of 19-year-old Janean Brown. Her body was found Nov. 19, 1983 near 12404 Archbold-Whitehouse Road.

The charges were contained in an indictment handed up by a Lucas County grand jury and unsealed today.

Rob Miller, chief of the special units division of the Lucas County Prosecutor’s Office, said that like other cold cases that have been solved decades later, science played a big part.

“Thankfully due to advances in science we are able to solve cases that have not been able to be concluded in the past,” he said.

Mr. Gustafson is being held in Michigan pending extradition to Toledo, Mr. Miller said.