49: The Indiana Dunes Disappearances: Ann Miller, Patricia Blough, & Renee Bruhl

On July 2, 1966, three young friends—Ann Miller, 21, Patricia Blough, 19, and Renee Bruhl, 19—drove from Chicago to Indiana Dunes State Park for a day at the beach. Amid a holiday crowd of over 8,600 people, the three women went into Lake Michigan to swim. They were never seen again. Their belongings were found untouched on their blanket: purses, car keys, cash, identification. Witnesses would later describe seeing the women swim out to meet a boat and climb aboard, but the boat, and the women, vanished without a trace. In the decades since, investigators and independent researchers have chased a range of theories from a botched illegal medical procedure to a chilling connection to a powerful horse-racing family later tied to multiple murders and unsolved violence in the Chicago area. No one has ever been charged. No trace of Ann, Patricia, or Renee has ever been found. In this episode, we examine the disappearance of Ann Miller, Patricia Blough, and Renee Bruhl, the flawed early investigation, and the theories that still surround one of the Midwest's most enduring unsolved missing persons cases. More importantly, we remember who they were: three young women, friends through a shared love of horses, whose lives were interrupted on an ordinary summer day. This episode contains discussions of abortion and brief explicit content related to one investigative theory. Listener discretion advised. 📍 Indiana Dunes State Park, Indiana | July 2, 1966 📖 Featuring an original poem written in her honor, read by Meredith Garretson. ➡️ Help bring attention to missing and unidentified women—subscribe and share this episode. ➡️ Find us on Instagram & Facebook. 📚 Get Aimee's book, Doe, now available via University of Akron Press, Bookshop.org, and Amazon. 📰 For more women-centered true crime content, subscribe to Aimee's newsletter, GIRLHUNT. ➡️ Join us on Patreon! Your support helps us continue to shine light on America’s missing and unidentified women. More about Meredith Garretson:Meredith Garretson. Meredith will star in the World Premiere play BLOOD OF THE LAMB Off Broadway at 59E59 Theaters in NY this fall. She is currently starring as Kate Hawthorne in the hit TV show RESIDENT ALIEN (Peacock, Netflix, Syfy, coming soon to USA). Past TV credits include: Ali MacGraw in THE OFFER (Paramount Plus), FOSSE/VERDON (FX), STARGIRL (CW), Chicago Med (NBC), NEW AMSTERDAM (NBC), PRODIGAL SON (Fox), THE GOOD FIGHT (Paramount+), ELEMENTARY (CBS). Starring in the upcoming feature film FRIENDSHIP opposite Paul Rudd (director: Andrew DeYoung).Theater credits include: Rosalind in AS YOU LIKE IT, Maid Marian in ROBIN HOOD (The Old Globe), Christina Mundy in DANCING AT LUGHNASA (Two River Theater), PAINT MADE FLESH (The Cell). She is a founding member of SOCIETY THEATRE COMPANY. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices