It was the evening of October 18th, 1971, and seventeen-year-old Madelyn “Maddy” Summerer was at the home of her fifteen-year-old friend and schoolmate, Lynne Pionk. At a little past six-thirty p.m., the two teenagers began walking to Port Huron Northern High School, in Michigan, where they were to attend a meeting of the Girls’ Athletic Association. At some point, the girls decided to take a popular short cut through the woods north of Holland and Pine Grove Avenues.
Suddenly, just as the teenagers were approaching the area of the Black River Canal, an unseen assailant hit Lynne on the back of the head and knocked her unconscious. When she awoke, disoriented, she thought she heard Madelyn screaming farther back in the woods. Lynne got to her feet and ran for help, spotting a man and woman nearby, getting into a car.
Lynne and the couple—identified as Rosemary Schattler and Ray Barton—rushed back into the woods to look for Madelyn. By the time they found her, she was also unconscious, and her head was a mass of bloody wounds. Emergency personnel arrived in short order and transferred Madalyn to the nearest hospital, but her life would hang in the balance for the next six days.
Lynne Pionk was treated for serious cuts and bruises, as well as a broken thumb sustained in the attack. Unfortunately for Madelyn Summerer, though, she would not recover from her injuries; she died on October 24th, and the investigation into the assault thereafter became a homicide inquiry.
The case was never solved, however, and all investigators know for sure is that the two high school girls were beaten by at least two male offenders who were briefly seen fleeing the area. Who these men were and why they targeted Maddy and Lynne on that October evening have yet to be determined.
Crime Immemorial 