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2023

AN ABC NEWS PRODUCER FROM NEW YORK WILL BE IN THE U.P. THIS WEEK TO INTERVIEW TEAM MibSAR FOR AN UPCOMING EPISODE OF 20/20. Anchored by David Muir and Amy Robach, the 2-hour, true-crime special will feature MibSAR’s investigative work on a long-term missing (LTM) person case that turned into a brutal double murder committed by one of the Midwest’s most prolific serial killers. ABC News’ “20/20” features unforgettable true crime mysteries, newsmaker interviews, investigative reports, and in-depth coverage of high profile stories. New episodes premiere Fridays on ABC, and stream on Hulu.

Team MibSAR featured in New York Times bestselling investigative journalist M. William Phelps' book entitled Where Monsters Hide: Sex, Murder, and Madness in the Midwest.

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2022

BOWMAN MURDER CASE TO BECOME HBO DOCUSERIES (New York, New York): The Aundria 'Alexis' Bowan case — the tragic story of an adopted Michigan 14-year-old who was raped, murdered, and butchered with an axe by a serial killer...her adoptive father — will become an HBO docuseries. The script is written, and casting is ongoing for actors to portray those involved in this real-world, 33-year-old Michigan nightmare. Updates will be posted as they become available.

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2021

12-16-2021 TEAM MibSAR SITREP (Marquette, Michigan): Team MibSAR recently donated $300 to the Marquette County Sheriffs Office for the purchase of a K9-Storm flotation vest for Deja, a K-9 assigned to Marquette County Search and Rescue, MibSAR's home team.

08-13-21 TEAM MibSAR IN THE NEWS >> WJMN Local 3 TV (Marquette, Michigan): "Backcountry cell phone use in emergencies; how to increase the chances of reaching help"

07-13-21 TEAM MibSAR IN THE NEWS >> WJMN Local 3 TV (Marquette, Michigan): "Wilderness preparedness; What should I carry on a day hike?"

07-08-21 TEAM MibSAR IN THE NEWS (Marquette, Michigan): MibSAR recently donated $21,000 to the Marquette County Sheriff's Office to underwrite the purchase of 10 AED defibrillators and an AED training unit for the Sheriff's patrol vehicles, jail, and Special Operations Division, including its SAR team, Dive team, Marine/ORV/Snowmobile team, and Rescue Unit 131, which specializes in technical rescue, vehicle extrication, Haz-Mat, trench rescue, Bio-Hazard, and weapons of mass destruction decontamination. WLUC TV 6 story.

07-08-21 TEAM MibSAR IN THE NEWS (Marquette, Michigan): MibSAR recently donated $21,000 to the Marquette County Sheriff's Office to underwrite the purchase of 10 AED defibrillators and an AED training unit for the Sheriff's patrol vehicles, jail, and Special Operations Division, including its SAR team, Dive team, Marine/ORV/Snowmobile team, and Rescue Unit 131, which specializes in technical rescue, vehicle extrication, Haz-Mat, trench rescue, Bio-Hazard, and weapons of mass destruction decontamination. Sheriff's Office Facebook post.

06-29-21 TEAM MibSAR IN THE NEWS >> WJMN-TV (Marquette, Michigan) did a story on Team MibSAR's $30,000 donation to underwrite the formation of an Aerial Response Team (ART) within the Marquette County Sheriff's Office Special Operations Division. Composed of a state-of-the-art DRONE — equipped with infrared technology, high-resolution camera, and search light — two controllers, a heated trailer, huge monitor, a plethora of critical accessories, and five FAA-certified pilots, ART will be leveraged on SAR operations, wildfires, disasters, crime scenes, accident scenes, hostage situations, criminal investigations, and other public safety efforts in Marquette County and beyond. As the only Sheriff's DRONE in the Upper Peninsula, the ART team will be available to agencies across the Upper Peninsula. The 'ART' team is named in honor of Art Neiger — Michael Neiger and Susan Neiger Roubal's beloved father — who dedicated over 40 years of his life in the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary helping rescue those in harm's way along the south shore of Lake Superior.

06-29-21 TEAM MibSAR IN THE NEWS >> WLUC TV-6 (Marquette, Michigan) did a story on Team MibSAR's $30,000 donation to underwrite the formation of an Aerial Response Team (ART) within the Marquette County Sheriff's Office Special Operations Division. Composed of a state-of-the-art DRONE — equipped with infrared technology, high-resolution camera, and search light — two controllers, a heated trailer, huge monitor, a plethora of critical accessories, and five FAA-certified pilots, ART will be leveraged on SAR operations, wildfires, disasters, crime scenes, accident scenes, hostage situations, criminal investigations, and other public safety efforts in Marquette County and beyond. As the only Sheriff's DRONE in the Upper Peninsula, the ART team will be available to agencies across the Upper Peninsula. The 'ART' team is named in honor of Art Neiger — Michael Neiger and Susan Neiger Roubal's beloved father — who dedicated over 40 years of his life in the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary helping rescue those in harm's way along the south shore of Lake Superior.

03-11-21 TEAM MibSAR IN THE NEWS (Marquette, Michigan): Team MibSAR was interviewed about river and lake ice safety by CBS affiliate WJMN Local 3 TV (Archived story)

02-23-21 TEAM MibSAR IN THE NEWS (Marquette, Michigan): WJMN-TV, a CBS affliate, recently covered Team MibSAR's work on behalf of the missing and murdered in the bush between the Upper Great Lakes and the Arctic Ocean (Archived story)

02-13-21 TEAM MibSAR IN THE NEWS >> WJNN (Marquette, Michigan) did a story on Team MibSAR's $30,000 donation to underwrite the formation of an Aerial Response Team (ART) within the Marquette County Sheriff's Office Special Operations Division. Composed of a state-of-the-art DRONE — equipped with infrared technology, high-resolution camera, and search light — two controllers, a heated trailer, huge monitor, a plethora of critical accessories, and five FAA-certified pilots, ART will be leveraged on SAR operations, wildfires, disasters, crime scenes, accident scenes, hostage situations, criminal investigations, and other public safety efforts in Marquette County and beyond. As the only Sheriff's DRONE in the Upper Peninsula, the ART team will be available to agencies across the Upper Peninsula. The 'ART' team is named in honor of Art Neiger — Michael Neiger and Susan Neiger Roubal's beloved father — who dedicated over 40 years of his life in the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary helping rescue those in harm's way along the south shore of Lake Superior.

02-04-21 TEAM MibSAR IN THE NEWS >> MibSAR recently donated $30,000 for the formation of an Aerial Response Team (ART) within the Marquette County Sheriff's Office Special Operations Division. Composed of a state-of-the-art DRONE, a heated trailer, huge monitor, a plethora of critical accessories, and five certified pilots, ART will be leveraged on SAR operations, wildfires, disasters, crime scenes, accident scenes, hostage situations, criminal investigations, and other public safety efforts in Marquette County and beyond. As the only Sheriff's DRONE in the region, the ART team will be available to agencies across the Upper Peninsula. MibSAR would like to thank Alpena County Search and Rescue (ACSAR)

01-16-21 TEAM MibSAR IN THE NEWS >> Four of MibSAR's missing-persons investigations were recently featured in David Paulides' latest CanAm Missing Project (Missing 411 books) YouTube video:
• The 1953 disappearance of the U.S. Air Forces' 1st Lt. Felix E. Moncla, Jr., and 2nd Lt. Robert L. Wilson, and their F-89 Scorpion along the north shore of Lake Superior in Ontario, Canada (Team MibSAR may have recovered a piece of wreckage in a remote canyon from this Northrop F-89 Scorpion, an American all-weather, twin-engined interceptor jet)
• The 2004 disappearance of Chris Hallaxs in the Eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan's Chippewa County
• The 2020 disappearance of Vladimir Ivanovic in the Central Upper Peninsula of Michigan's Menominee County.

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2020

TEAM MibSAR IN THE NEWS (London, UK): Team MibSAR was recently notified by a UK producer for First Look TV that The Lady Killers TV Series shown on Discovery Plus that it participated in won the 2021 Factual and Specialist Factual awards — the gold standard of television awards in the United Kingdom — from the London-based Royal Television Society (RTS). MibSAR contributed hours of on-camera interviews as well as its crime scene drawings and courtroom exhibits for a segment on one of its signature cases — a female serial killer convicted of murdering 2 men (dismembering 1), and whom MibSAR is investigating for killing 9 more men.

TEAM MibSAR IN THE NEWS >> TV Ontario (Toronto, Ontario, Canada): MibSAR’s 3 expeditionary SAR operations in search of Michael Linklater — a Cree tribal trapper missing in the Canadian bush near the Arctic Ocean since 2003 — will be featured on TV Ontario (TVO) this week. Watch for it on The Agenda with Steve Paikin, the flagship current affairs TV program of Ontario’s provincial-wide public media network.

TEAM MibSAR IN THE NEWS >> MEL Magazine (Los Angeles, California): Team MibSAR was recently interviewed by Los Angeles’ MEL Magazine for an article entitled “The Vanished Souls of American National Parks: Stir-crazy after months of lockdowns and restrictions, more people seem to be heading into the wilderness — and few are prepared for what they find there,” by Travel and True Crime reporter Andrew Fiouzi. Story article and graphic.

TEAM MibSAR IN THE NEWS >> The Mining Journal (Marquette, Michigan) announces the publication of Jon Billman's The Cold Vanish: Seeking the Missing in North America's Wildlands. One chapter in this 320-page hardcover focuses on Team MibSAR, and another examines MibSAR's hunt for Michael Linklater, a Cree trapper who vanished from a remote Arctic Ocean bush camp in 2003. Published by New York's Grand Central Publishing, it should be available in local bookstores and on Amazon on July 7.

TEAM MibSAR IN THE NEWS >> Earlier this year, Team MibSAR completed several hours of on-camera interviews with investigative journalists from the Gannett Co. — a U.S. and U.K.-based media company whose journalists have racked-up 93 PULITZER PRIZES — regarding MibSAR’s years-long investigation into alleged police corruption, including allegations of murder, clandestine burial, human trafficking, prostitution, and rape. Look for the series to be released later this year, or early in 2021, perhaps on NetFlix and a major TV network.

TEAM MibSAR IN THE NEWS >> A new book, THE COLD VANISH: SEEKING THE MISSING IN NORTH AMERICA'S WILDLANDS, by Jon Billman, takes an "in-depth look at people who vanish in the wilderness without a trace and those eccentric, determined characters who try to find them. These are the stories that defy conventional logic. The proverbial vanished without a trace incidences, which happen a lot more (and a lot closer to your backyard) than almost anyone thinks. These are the missing whose situations are the hardest on loved ones left behind. The cases that are an embarrassment for park superintendents, rangers and law enforcement charged with Search & Rescue. The ones that baffle the volunteers who comb the mountains, woods and badlands....Someone will vanish in the wild tomorrow. These are the people who will go looking..." One chapter of this 320-page hardcover focuses on Team MibSAR, and another examines MibSAR's hunt for Michael Linklater, a Cree trapper who vanished from a remote Arctic Ocean bush camp in 2003. Published by New York's Grand Central Publishing, look for it on Amazon or Barnes and Noble by July 7, 2020

TEAM MibSAR IN THE NEWS "Winter survival tactics class to be held" -- Mining Journal, Marquette, Michigan, January 30, 2020

TEAM MibSAR IN THE NEWS "Winter Survival Tactics Class teaches winter enthusiasts about outdoor safety, emergency gear, and more" -- ABC 10 Up, January 27, 2020

TEAM MibSAR IN THE NEWS "Marquette County Sheriff hosts free Winter Survival Class on Saturday, Feb. 1" -- TV 6, January 27, 2020

TEAM MibSAR IN THE NEWS (London, England): In October 2019, an award-winning London production company flew to Michigan to film Team MibSAR for a 1-hour documentary on one of its signature investigations: the 2014-2017 1st-degree murder & dismemberment of Chris Regan by a serial killer in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. MibSAR was just notified by the producer that the documentary is currently airing in the UK by A+E’s Crime & Investigation Channel as part of "A Killer’s Mistake" crime series. The true crime series will be shown in America later this year, according to the producer. -- January 25, 2020

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2019

TEAM MibSAR IN THE NEWS: (London, England) Team MibSAR recently completed several hours of interviews with a UK film production company for a 1-hour documentary on one of MibSAR’s signature investigations: the 2014-2017 1st-degree murder and dismemberment of Chris Regan by a serial killer in Michigan’s Iron County. With over 20 years of creative production experience -- including for the BBC -- this award-winning London, England-based production company is producing a TV series on female killers. According to the show's Director, the Regan Case is by far the most intriguing of the 40 murders already profiled for the show. Watch for it on Quest Red, Netflix, Foxtel, etc.
-- November 4, 2019

TEAM MibSAR IN THE NEWS: Matt Acker, a former member of Team MibSAR's Long Range Special Operations Group (LRSOG), takes first place in the 12,000-foot-climb, 100-mile-long, Marji Gesick, which GearJunkie.com says may be the most difficult single-day "mountain bike race in America, if not the world."

TEAM MibSAR IN THE NEWS: MibSAR's Long Range Special Operations Group (LRSOG) was recently filmed for a one-hour documentary on two of its signature investigations by a southeastern Michigan film production crew.
-- October 15, 2019

TEAM MibSAR IN THE NEWS Team MibSAR is working with a UK film production company on a documentary of one of its signature investigations: assisting Chief Laura Frizzo of Iron River PD (Michigan) with the 2014 - 2017 Chris Regan first-degree murder and dismemberment investigation, and subsequent 2-week trial of serial killer Kelly Cochran. Convicted first of murdering Chris -- and then her husband -- Cochran may have killed as many as 9 other men across the Midwest. With over 20 years of creative production experience -- including shows for the BBC -- this award-winning London-based production company will begin filming this fall. Part of a female-killer series, watch for it on Quest Red, Netflix, Foxtel, etc. -- September 4, 2019

Team MibSAR in the News: MibSAR UPEC Presentation 'Beauty and Danger Found in North' in Mining Journal (Marquette, Michigan), April 1, 2019

Team MibSAR in the News: Book published by New York Times best-selling author chronicles the Kelly Cochran serial-killer case, and Team MibSAR's roll in the investigation, one of Team MibSAR's signature cases, March 2019

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2018

Team MibSAR in the News: NBC Oxygen's Snapped TV, October 16, 2018

Team MibSAR in the News: Team MibSAR participated in two-days of filming and interviewing by an investigative photo/video journalist with the Detroit Free Press (Detroit, Michigan) for an upcoming feature about Team MibSAR's investigation of long-term missing persons cases and cold case homicides in Michigan, August, 2018

Team MibSAR in the News: Penguin Random House book on Cochran serial-killer case

Team MibSAR in the News: WJMN-TV 3 CBS April 18, 2018

Team MibSAR in the news: MibSAR sponsors Missing in Michigan 2018

Wow, Michael, thank you SO MUCH! Your donation means so much to us [Missing In Michigan] and our VIPs. Thank you, sincerely.
-- Jolene Hardesty, March 13, 2018

AWESOME! ... So appreciative [of MibSAR's support of Michigan In Michigan's 2018 program to fingerprint and photograph Vulnerable and Impaired Persons (VIP’s)]!
-- D/Sgt. Sara Krebs, Michigan State Police, March 13, 2018

MibSAR in the News: 01-13-18 Cadillac News (Cadillac, Michigan)

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2017

MibSAR in the News: Detroit Free Press, November 28, 2017

MibSAR in the News: Warner Bros. Crime Watch Daily with Chris Hansen’s one-hour TV special detailing the multi-year investigation of the serial killers responsible for the murder and dismemberment of Chris Regan in Michigan‘s Iron County by Chief Laura Frizzo, Team MibSAR, the FBI, MSP, US Marshalls Service, and many others uploaded to Net as a 5-part miniseries: Graphic, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 November 15, 2017

MibSAR in the News: Mining Journal (Marquette, Michigan) October 25, 2017

MibSAR in the News: NBC's Oxygen TV Channel October 16, 2017

MibSAR in the News: Detroit Free Press (Detroit, Michigan) October 11, 2017

MibSAR in the News: The ‘Northern Divide,’ a film directed by Chris Ozminski documenting one of MibSAR’s annual Long Range Special Operations Group (LRSOG) arctic cold-weather training expeditions -- The 2014 9-day Oba River Expedition -- will premiere at the Fresh Coast Film Festival in Marquette, Michigan on October 19-22, 2017.

It isn't very often that there's a quick and happy resolution to a missing person case. It's good we have Michael Neiger and Team MibSAR!
-- WJMN Local 3, Marquette, Michigan, September 5, 2017

MibSAR in the News: MibSAR just wrapped up two days of interviews and filming with investigative reporter Ana Garcia and her film, sound, lighting, and makeup crew that was documenting Chief Laura Frizzo’s successful investigation of the 2014 murder and dismemberment of Chris Regan in Michigan‘s Iron County. Before the case was over this spring, one of Chris’ serial killers was murdered to silence him, and the other was convicted of first-degree murder and dismemberment. The one-hour special -- to be produced by Emmy Award Winning Jen Antonelli, a Burbank, California senior producer with Warner Bros.’ Crime Watch Daily with Chris Hansen -- is scheduled to air this fall. The case was a textbook example of collaboration between an NGO like MibSAR and Iron River PD, Hobart Indiana PD, MSP, FBI, US Marshals, DNR, Iron Co Deputies, K-9 One SAR, & a host of other agencies. August 2017

Thank you SO MUCH for your help in this special program [CBS TV special: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]!
-- Cynthia Thompson, News Director, WJMN Local 3, July 21, 2017

MibSAR in the News: Moore Case
-- The Mining Journal (Marquette, Michigan) July 19, 2017

MibSAR in the News: Granroth case
-- TV 6 (Marquette, Michigan), July 13, 2017

Thanks so much for your time and generosity with photos and advice!
-- MJ Dulmage, true-crime author of "Cold: From the Inside," which details the Chris Regan 1st-degree murder and dismemberment investigation, June 5, 2017

MibSAR in the News: Today I had a chance to speak with the founder and leader of Michigan Backcountry Search and Rescue (MibSAR), Michael Neiger [in an interview for the book Cold: From the Inside, detailing the investigation into the 2014 1st-degree murder and dismemberment of Chris Regan in Iron River, Michigan). With 26 years in the Michigan State Police, Michael helped not only in finding evidence (and helped Chief Frizzo know what to look for, which led to finding Chris Regan's remains), but his computer extraction skills provided evidence used to provide proof of premeditation in Regan's murder. Additionally, he has provided photos and documents which will help you, when reading the book, visualize the areas described more completely. His photographs of the search and search areas are fantastic and will virtually put you in the middle of the investigation.
-- MJ Dulmage, true-crime author of "Cold: From the Inside," which details the Chris Regan 1st-degree murder and dismemberment investigation, June 4, 2017

Thanks Michael Neiger and Laura Frizzo for participating in this [WJMN] special report. Your hard work on this case helped bring justice to the family of Chris Regan, Sr.
-- Cynthia Thompson, May 25, 2017

MibSAR in the News: Six-part half-hour WJMN (CBS) TV special: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Thank you so much for all of your help! It's too bad the special is only a half an hour long...
-- Mollie Hollebeke, WJMN Local 3, May 4, 2017

MibSAR in the News: April 2017 Outside Magazine "How 1,600 People Went Missing from Our Public Lands Without a Trace," by Jon Billman

MibSAR in the News: January 7, 2017 The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, Michigan)

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2016

MibSAR in the News: The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, Michigan), December 16, 2016

MibSAR in the News: ABC 10, December 12, 2016

MibSAR in the News: ABC 10, December 7, 2016

MibSAR in the News: ABC 10, December 5, 2016

MibSAR in the News: Daily Mining Gazette, November 28, 2016

MibSAR in the News: TV 6, November 26, 2016

MibSAR in the News: TV 6, November 23, 2016

MibSAR in the News: ABC 10, November 22, 2016

MibSAR in the News: Mining Journal, November 22, 2016

MibSAR in the New: ABC 10, November 21, 2016

MibSAR in the News: TV 6, November 21, 2016

MibSAR in the news -- TV -6, October 26, 2016

Team MibSAR in the news: Trask case 1 or 2-- Explore Magazine, Summer 2016

Team MibSAR in the news: Regan Case -- Iron Mountain Reporter (Iron River, Michigan) August 21, 2016

Team MibSAR in the news: Taylor Case -- Iron Mountain Daly News (Iron Mountain, Michigan) August 23, 2016

MibSAR in the news, 18-month investigation results in homicide suspect arrest -- Iron County Reporter (Iron River, Michigan), May 4, 2014

MibSAR in the news, MibSAR's February 2015 Arctic Ocean Expedition featured in "Arctic Isolation" article -- Endurance News April 2016

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2015

Team MibSAR in the news -- News Channel 3 (Allegan, Michigan), Hitchcock Case, June 29, 2015

Team MibSAR in the news -- Mining Journal (Marquette, Michigan), Harding Case, June 19, 2015

Team MibSAR in the news -- TV 6 (Marquette, Michigan) Harding Case, June 17, 2015

Wonderful article, you and your team deserve the recognition, since without you, Daniel would likely not have been found! You are a miracle team! --Maureen Trask, Trask Case, June 5, 2015

Team MibSAR in the article -- Temiskaming Speaker (Temiskaming, Ontario, Canada) June 3, 2015

Team MibSAR in the news -- Detroit Free Press (Detroit, Michigan), Trask Case, June 2, 2015

If you've been able to read this
Web page...
thank a Teacher;
If you've been able to read this
Web page in English...
thank a Veteran.
-- Author unknown

Copyright © 1984-2020 by Michael A. Neiger

Contact Michael Neiger via e-mail at mneiger@hotmail.com

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