MURDERED: Mary & Susanne Reker
Monday, September 2, 2024, marks 50 years since the murders of Mary and Susanne Reker. 50 years of pain, frustration, and unanswered questions. With every day, month, and year that passes, the urgent need for justice grows, which is why we’re bringing their story here to you Crime Junkies, in hopes that one of you can help bring closure to this half-century mystery…
For our friends in the Deaf and Signing community, you can view an ASL version of this episode.
Mary and Susanne Reker are the 2 of Hearts in Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s cold case playing cards deck.
Photo Source: Minnesota Department of Public Safety
Please scan this QR code to submit a tip.
Photo Source: Stearns County Sheriff’s Office
An undated photo of Mary Reker.
Photo Source: Stearns County Sheriff’s Office
An undated photo of Susanne Reker.
Photo Source: Stearns County Sheriff’s Office
A present-day photo of Zayres.
Photo Source: Google Earth
A map with the girls’ last known locations.
Photo Source: The Minneapolis Star
A newspaper clipping regarding the girls being found near the quarry.
Photo Source: Stearns County Sheriff’s Office
A poster of the Reker sisters hanging in the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office.
Photo Source: audiochuck staff
Please contact the authorities If you have any information about the following case:
There is a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for the murders of Mary and Susanne Reker. To submit a tip, please visit this link or scan the QR code below.
To make a donation to or learn more about Parents of Murdered Children, please visit this link.
To support Season of Justice and learn more, please visit www.seasonofjustice.org.
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If you’re a law enforcement agency or family member of one of the people we mentioned in this episode, or if you’re looking for more coverage on a case, please reach out. You can email us at:
Episode Source Material
- Cold cases of Stearns County, Minnesota, by Robert M. Dudley.
- FOX 9: Reker murders: Connection or coincidence?
- Minneapolis Star: Second murder probe continues at steady pace, by Dave Anderson via Newspapers.com.
- Minneapolis Star: Slain girls’ final hours retraced, by Dave Anderson via Newspapers.com.
- Star Tribune: Details still eerie 28 years after girls were slain, by Curt Brown via Newspapers.com.
- FOX 9: Mother of murdered girls confronts suspected killer on his deathbed.
- KARE 11: KARE 11 Investigates: New lead in Minnesota cold case double murder, by A.J. Lagoe and Steve Eckert.
- St. Cloud Times: 40 years after sisters killed, questions remain, by David Unze.
- St. Cloud Times: 2 years later, Reker trail remains cold, by Mark Pearson via Newspapers.com.
- St. Cloud Times: Defendant’s past kept officers wary, by Michael Norton via Newspapers.com
- St. Cloud Times: ‘I’m sorry,’ confessed kidnapper tells court, by Mark Pearson via Newspapers.com.
- Survivors: National Organization of Parents of Murdered Children, Inc. Volume 36, issue 2. Summer 2018.
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