Grand Rapids’ Oldest Cold Case, the Murder of Mina Dekker Approaches 90 Years Unsolved

The murder of Mina Dekker is considered the oldest unsolved crime in the history of the Grand Rapids, Michigan, police department. The 19-year-old was found beaten to death in March 1938. Now, nearly 90 years after her passing, the case has never been solved.

Dekker was 19 at the time of her murder. Original media reports from the time (written clearly in the tone of the era) note,

From out of the apparent unspotted past of a pretty 19-year-old choir singer police today sought a clue to her senseless murder.

Authorities admit they were "without a clue" to the identify of the slaver who hammered the girl to death in a downtown office building at midday.

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The crime occurred in the office building at 64 Ionia SW where she was employed as a stenographer. The murder weapon was not found nor had a motive been discovered.

While the police interviewed many people, Dekker's family felt there was a single viable subject. Police interviewed the man and gave him both a polygraph and 'truth serum' but the suspect was never charged.

The case was featured in the true crime media of the time, True Detective Magazine. Both two years and ten years after the crime, press reports shared that have been no progress had been made in delivering justice for Dekker.

The subject of Dekker's murder came up recently on a Reddit forum dedicated to Grand Rapids asking about the greatest unsolved mysteries in the city.

Dekker is interred at Rest Lawn Memorial Park in Grand Rapids.