Case Profiles #76
Miguel pictured with his mom Myrna
Miguel Oliveras
In the early morning hours of September 2nd, 2006, 24-year-old Miguel Oliveras was last seen at Platinum Plus in Portland, Maine. The strip club was where his on-again off-again ex-girlfriend, Viana, worked as a dancer, and was his only tie to Maine as Miguel lived in Hyde Park, Massachusetts. When Miguel was last seen, which is on surveillance footage, he was being escorted out of the club and walking with a white male, who was never identified. This was the last time Miguel has ever been seen. Miguel’s mother, Myrna, immediately grew worried and also suspicious of Viana, as two days before her son went missing, she was incessantly calling him and wouldn’t stop until he came up to see her in Portland. She even wired him money for bus fare. When Myrna confronted Viana, she was dismissive and refused to file a police report for her ex-boyfriend and even further threatened to press charges for harassment against her if she didn’t stop calling. Myrna largely did a lot of her own investigating into her son’s disappearance and would even drive to Portland often to hand out fliers and hold vigils. A family friend of Miguel’s finally was able to talk to Viana and get some information out of her: Miguel allegedly stole a phone from a Jamaican man who was a drug dealer, and he was going to send “his people” after him to get it. There is no evidence of the validity of this story. Viana has relocated several times since Miguel’s disappearance. Miguel Oliveras is a Hispanic male who is roughly 5’11” and 160 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. He has tattoos on his neck, back, shoulder and hand. He was last seen wearing a gray camo long-sleeve shirt with a white t-shirt over it, cargo shorts, and sneakers. Anyone with any information regarding Miguel Oliveras’ location should call the Portland Police Department at (207) 814-8584 or FBI Boston at 1-800-CALL-FBI. There is a $10k reward regarding information about Miguel’s disappearance.
Annie Murchison
On July 26th, 1977, 28-year-old Annie Murchison was found in her home in Springfield, Massachusetts just after 7:30 a.m. She was lying face and stomach down with her hands behind her back and there was a large pool of blood on the floor. Annie had been stabbed five times and was wearing only her underwear. A sheet had been placed over her body. Annie’s three children, ages 9, 4 and 2, were all still asleep upstairs, unharmed and unaware of what had happened beneath them. A woman named Denise Johnson had come to Annie’s home with her own kids that morning because Annie was a daycare mom and essentially ran a daycare out of her home for other kids in her neighborhood. When no one answered the door when Denise knocked, she helped her 4-year-old son into an open window near the front door so he could get inside the home. Denise was able to open the window wider and crawl inside herself, and this is when she saw Annie’s body. Police arrived on scene and found no signs of forced entry, a robbery or any sign that a struggle had ensued against Annie and the attacker. Annie did not typically lock her doors or windows, but most people didn’t in the area, especially in 1977. A neighbor heard the sound of tires squealing and peeling away from the area at around 11:30 p.m. the previous night, and this was really all anyone was able to share regarding any possible information.
Annie’s middle child, her son named Marcus, wrote a letter in 2014 to former Hampden District Attorney Mark Mastroianni, stating, “Just recently my family was perusing the Hampden District Attorney website, checking the listing of unsolved homicides and to our dismay, my mother was not listed.” Marcus requested that Annie be included, and he also requested an update on the status of her investigation. Annie’s case is now being looked at with fresh eyes, especially as there was evidence left behind that investigators may be able to work with now that DNA technology has come so far. Annie’s youngest child, her son Reginald who was just 2-years-old at the time of her murder, stated, “I have to think it was a person my mother knew, because he protected the children upstairs. It wasn’t a home invasion. The person must have cared about us.” Anyone with any information on the murder of Annie Murchison is asked to please call the Springfield Police Detective Bureau at (413) 787-6355.
Image sources:
pressherald.com - “Portland police renew call for help finding man missing since 2006”
masslive.com - “Daughter of woman slain in 1977 finds hope in new DNA push from Hampden DA’s office”