The views and opinions expressed in Cold and Missing are exclusively those of the hosts. All parties mentioned are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Cold and Missing also contains adult themes and languages. Listener discretion is advised. I'm your host, Ali McLaughlin-Solkowski. And I'm your co-host, Eli Sulkowski. And this is Cold and Missing, where we cover cold cases and missing person cases. Hello everyone and welcome back to Cold and Missing.
I'm your host, Ali McLaughlin-Sulkowski. And I just wanted to start the show again with some thank yous. We had a lot of reviews come in this week on Apple Podcasts, just people rating us five stars. No new written ones, but that's okay. We'll still take all of your ratings anywhere on any platform wherever you're listening. So thank you so much. Once again, I'm coming to you solo this week. It'll just be me as my husband takes some time off. His mother passed away about two months ago.
So we're just in the middle of grief. And if you've experienced a similar type of loss, I'm sure you understand. And I thank you all for your understanding and your compassion for us during this time, and especially to him, like all of your prayers, thoughts, meditations, we can feel them. You know, I definitely feel supported by this little community that we're creating here at Cold and Missing. So thank you so much to everybody listening.
And if this is your first time here, thanks for joining us. Appreciate you. Thanks for being here. So I wanted to jump into the case that we are covering today. This case actually came to us from a listener. His name is Paige Nienaber. And he brought this case to my attention. I hadn't heard of it beforehand. As soon as I started digging into this case. I knew it was one that we would want to cover here on Cold and Missing. It's an unresolved missing person case.
And there was never a lot of news coverage on it to begin with. There was some that I was able to find. But we need to bring light to these cases. And this is definitely one of them. And Paige is a friend of Mike's. They went to high school together. Paige has really been a champion for his friend Mike in getting his case out there and getting it into the media, into podcasts, just out into the public consciousness again.
So I am happy to be a part of Paige's mission in getting this case out there. And to help support a resolution for the family who still want answers to what happened to their loved one. So today we are going to be covering the unresolved missing person case of Michael John Olson. And this takes place in December of 1979 in West Palm Beach, Florida. But first, a little bit about Michael. So Michael, or Mike, he is 20 years old in 1979.
Mike was born November 9, 1959. So his birthday is coming up at the time of recording. And he was originally from Edina, Minnesota. And Edina is just outside of the Twin Cities. It's right there. And he had gone to the University of Minnesota, but he was taking a break from his studies. He was studying business, but he really wanted to get into the golf industry. That was his passion.
And he had worked his way up at a golf club in the Twin Cities and decided to head down to Florida to pursue his golf passion down there, which makes complete sense. Florida is just filled with golf courses. So in the fall of 1979, Mike moves to Florida, and he gets a job as a bag boy at the President Country Club there in West Palm Beach. When he went down to Florida, he didn't move to an apartment right away.
I think he wanted to make sure that he liked it down there and wanted to stay down there. So he was staying at the Howard Johnson Hotel on Okeechobee Boulevard. But he still called his parents once a week. He called them, it seemed, about every Sunday to chat and catch up with them. He also had a brand new Maroon 1979 Grand Prix, which imagine being 20, moving to Florida, and having this brand new car. Like, he was living a good life. You know, he was doing his passion.
He was doing what he loved, which was working with golf. It appears that Mike was only in Florida for a couple of weeks working at this job at the President's Country Club when he decided that he wanted to stay permanently. He was going to move down here and look for apartments and make his home base. Everyone that knew Mike and loved Mike described him as a very caring and kind person. He was a great friend. Not just a good friend, a great friend.
He really kind of went out of his way for those that he loved and wanted to be there for those he loved. Paige Neenaber puts it perfectly. He says, great guy, great friend, which I think sums Mike up really beautifully at this time in his life. And that brings us into the timeline of events. So our timeline begins Friday, November 30th, 1979. Mike had the day off of work, so he started his day heading over to the President's Country Club and he played a round of golf.
And I also believed he picked up his paycheck at this time. After playing a round of golf, I do believe that Mike does stop at a bank. We know that his parents did send him a $700 check that was cashed that day. So I think he goes to the bank and cashes his parents' check and then his paycheck. So he has a couple thousand dollars on him at this point. So with that cash in hand, Mike heads to a rental agency there in West Palm Beach.
He was trying to find a permanent place to live because he was staying at this hotel. He was ready to make the move, make the decision. So he went to a rental agency to talk to them. What happens kind of between those morning, afternoon activities to the evening? Not quite sure, but the next time we really know Mike's movements for that day is around 6 p.m. At 6 p.m., he meets up with some coworkers and they head to a dog track to watch some races.
This is called the Palm Beach Kennel Club and it's still there to this day. It was about a mile from the hotel he was staying at, so it's all in that same area. According to Mike's friends, they stayed there until the track closed. They watched several races and Mike was betting on some of the races, but it's unclear if he won, if he lost, if he kind of just broke even. There's no real details around that. But we do know that he had the money from his earlier excursion to the bank.
So after the last race of the night at the Kennel Club, Mike is driving his Grand Prix and him and his friends, his coworkers, they leave and head to a bar. This bar at that time was called Wild Side Lounge and they head there because there was going to be a broadcast of a boxing match around 2 a.m. from the reports that I could find. So Mike and his friends head to that bar, watch the boxing match, and then they kind of start bar hopping.
There are reports that they went to another bar, but I couldn't find the name of the bar or any details around it. So it seems like they're at the Wild Side Lounge. They go to another bar, maybe for a little bit. But then the next bar they head to is Mr. G's. And that's the last bar that they're at for this evening. Again, it's unclear exactly what time they show up to Mr. G's, but this is a 4 a.m. bar and they stay until close. So this brings us into December 1st for sure.
So Mike and his friends, they're at the bar, they're having a good time. They stay until 4 a.m. And despite being out kind of all evening and bar hopping, according to his friends, Mike wasn't drinking a lot. Mike was driving that night. He was driving his friends around. So I believe he was being responsible and not getting intoxicated so that way he would be in a good state to drive his friends. None of his friends say that he drank a lot or that he was drunk by the end of the evening.
So after Mr. G's closes down at 4 a.m., Mike gives his friend a ride to his car, which was back towards the racetrack. There's a church near the racetrack called Belvedere Baptist Church. Again, this is still there. You can see the racetrack from their parking lot. And at that time in 1979, and apparently still happening to this day, people will park at the church and then walk over to the racetracks because you have to pay to park at the racetrack.
So if you park at the church and just walk over, it's free. So that's where Mike's friend's car was. Mike drives his friend to his car. It's between 4.30, 5 a.m. And Mike says, quote, I'll see you at work in the morning, end quote. Now in my book, this is 4.30, 5 o'clock. This is morning to me. But to them, this is the end of the night. And apparently, Mike had to work at around 7 a.m.
So it seemed like he was really just going to go home and change, maybe wash up and then head into work that day. But from the church where Mike dropped his friend off to the hotel that he was staying at, the Howard Johnson Hotel, it was only an eight minute drive. Mike's friend sees him drive away and he assumes he's headed to his hotel. But a few hours later at work, Mike never shows up for work. His other friends do that were out with him the night before, but Mike doesn't make it.
Now if I was in this position as a friend, I wouldn't necessarily be immediately worried. I would think we were out till 4.30, 5 a.m. I bet he fell asleep and didn't set an alarm. That would be my thought as to why my friend didn't show up that I just saw a few hours ago. But after their shift ends, Mike's friends head over to the Howard Johnson Hotel that was just off of Okeechobee Boulevard there.
When they drive over to the hotel, they look around the parking lot and they don't see his maroon Grand Prix anywhere. And according to newspaper reports, it was in the evening when they went over there, so they couldn't find his car. So that was the end of Saturday, December the 1st. On Sunday, December 2nd, Mike's friends drive back over to the Howard Johnson Hotel to see if his car is there or if he's there now.
There's still no signs of the Grand Prix in the parking lot, so Mike's friends head into the hotel to speak to the clerk. Whenever they speak to the clerk, the clerk goes up to Michael's room. I believe he was staying in room 114. And when they unlock the door, all of his possessions are still there. His clothes are still there. They know his golf clubs are at the country club. So it seems like everything is there except for Mike and his car.
The clerk at the hotel thinks that Mike skipped out on his bill. And so the clerk calls police to report this, like, bill skipping, essentially, that somebody left without paying. So this is the first time the police are kind of alerted that Mike is not there, but because they think he skipped out on a bill. Not necessarily because he's missing. On Monday, December 3, Mike still doesn't show up for work.
So his bosses at the presidential country club call the old golf course that he used to work at in Minnesota to see, hey, did he show up there? Is Mike with you? Did he go back home? But they haven't heard from him since he left for Florida. So according to newspapers, Mike's boss at the country club in West Palm Beach then calls his parents in Minnesota to say, hey, Mike is missing. And this is the first time that his parents are made aware of it. They were expecting a call from him on Sunday.
That seems to be the typical day he called. But they didn't get the call that day. But the next day when they hear he's missing, they are floored by this news. They have no idea why he would be missing. He's not into drugs. He doesn't have a lot of debt. They just sent him that $700. And Mike's parents believe that if he had perhaps gambled all his money away and lost all his money at the racetracks, that he would still come to them for help. He wouldn't just disappear.
He was the type of guy who would ask for help when he needed it. Once Mike's parents know that he's missing, they call the West Palm Beach Police Department to report him missing. Because then a BOLO, a Be on the Lookout, is issued for Mike and his maroon 1979 Grand Prix. But it's really unclear beyond that what the police are doing at this time to track him down. I found a quote from December 7. So this would be about a week after Mike went missing.
And this is from Detective Sergeant Richard Engelhardt. He says, quote, he's a young man. He has a nice car. He has money. If that's all we knew about him, I'd say he's with a girl. But in this case, the time is too long. There's something else involved, and I'm afraid it's not good. End quote.
So what I gather from that quote to kind of fill in the pieces of what police did and didn't do during that first week that he's missing, it really seems like they just chalk it all up to he's a young guy. He's probably out. He has money. He has a nice car. And he's over 18. He's an adult. He can go wherever he wants to go.
I was able to find that while police were interviewing Mike's friends and asking them about their last night out and what went on, Mike did seem to mention that he had a 1200 mile drive ahead of him, but he never brought it up again. And none of his friends knew what he was talking about. Now I just typed in Google Maps from West Palm Beach to Edina, which is his hometown where his parents are from.
It's around 1700 miles, not exactly 1200, but I don't know if that's what he was referencing that he was going to head home or head somewhere else. But it was a 1200 mile trip that was mentioned just briefly once by Mike. And from the report, it does sound like he mentioned this trip just a couple of days before he went missing. In January of 1980, so it's been about a month now that Mike has been missing, police do offer a $500 reward for information leading to him.
But Mike's parents, however, they wanted answers and I'm sure felt just very helpless being so far away. So just a few weeks after Mike disappeared, his family hires a well known PI in the West Palm Beach area. His name is Jack Harwood. And Jack starts digging into this case. And after a few months of investigating it, Jack does believe that Mike met foul play. He says, quote, I think the kid is dead. A kid like that doesn't just disappear. I've checked everything.
He wasn't in drugs, nor did he owe money or have a girl who might have caused problems. The only thing I can think of is that maybe somebody saw he had a little money and a new Grand Prix and killed him for it. But even then, he wouldn't just vanish from the face of the earth. Somebody would know something or have seen something or his car would show up, end quote. So at this point, Mike has disappeared without a trace, him and his car.
Jack Harwood, the PI, he does write to every single guest that was at the hotel that night. He uses the hotel records. But during that time, a lot of people would give a fake name or a fake address if they were trying to lay low. So he writes to everybody that he can find. And eventually, he does hear back from a couple from Arizona. And they say that they stayed in the room that was right above Michael on the second floor.
This couple says that they heard what sounded like a scuffle in the parking lot, but they didn't get up to look. They were minding their own business, is what they said. So from this information, Jack Harwood theorizes that Mike was jumped in the parking lot that night before he entered his room. But no guests reported a disturbance on December 1. It was only months afterwards that this couple wrote back to say that they did hear a scuffle in the parking lot.
And then there's no real big updates on the case. Jack Harwood does continue to work on the case for the family kind of behind the scenes. But in April of 1982, this is about two and a half years after Mike disappeared, the reward is increased to $10,000 for information leading to him or his car. In July of 1984, Jack Harwood is still working on this case. But he says he's working on this case kind of pro bono.
He's just very committed to this family and to helping them into solving what happened to Mike. Now, I mentioned before that Jack Harwood, he wrote to all the guests that were in the hotel. While reviewing the records, Jack noticed that there was a guest with a home address from Loxahatchee. And he says, quote, what struck me was that Loxahatchee was spelled right. Not too many people know how to spell Loxahatchee. And I figured that it had to be somebody from out around there, end quote.
The Loxahatchee address is significant for Jack Harwood because he theorizes that perhaps Mike met serial killer Christopher Wilder, who's also known as the beauty queen killer for those of us who are familiar. So Wilder had spent time in Loxahatchee, which is how Jack made that connection between the address in the guest book and Christopher Wilder. Jack Harwood says this about Christopher Wilder, quote, there's a chance he might be the guy.
He liked to hang around those bars where there was a lot of action. Maybe he saw this kid pick up a girl and he liked the girl and killed the kid to get to the girl, end quote. Now, Christopher Wilder is a serial killer, but he was really only active for around a six week period. So from February 26th, 1984 to April 13th, 1984. So this would have been four years after Mike disappeared that Wilder really started in on his killing spree.
But of course, we don't know if that is where he started or if he had done anything beforehand. But he was very active during February of 1984 till April of 1984, when he was eventually killed by police. However, Christopher Wilder is believed to have been very good at hiding bodies and getting rid of bodies. Jack Harwood says, quote, if he dumped the body out in some canal, you'll never find it. The danger with Wilder is that everybody will be trying to clear their file with him.
But this is one case that really gets to me. The family's money ran out a long time ago, but I'll never stop working it, end quote. So Jack Harwood kind of theorizes here that, like I mentioned, that Mike might have picked up a girl who Wilder would have liked and then killed Mike to get to the girl. But this doesn't seem to be supported by what we know happens, because Mike dropped his friend off at his car that was in the church parking lot.
And at least to my knowledge, there was no mention that there was a girl with them at that time. And it being around 4.35 a.m. in the morning when he did this drop off with his friend, I find it unlikely that he would then go back to the bar to pick up a girl who was waiting on him to then go home when he had to work in a few hours. The evidence that I have found or the facts that I have found in this case doesn't really seem to support this theory at all.
And from what we know about Christopher Wilder, he seemed to have just killed women and young girls. There's never any evidence that Wilder ever killed a man that we know of. So that's really when the case goes cold. However, as I mentioned at the beginning, Paige Nienaber, Mike's friend from high school, really took up this case and has been the driving force of finding answers, I would say.
In August of 2023, so this is just a few months ago, Paige reached out to Dark Water Dive Center and they are a non-for-profit organization that help search waterways for missing people. And they searched the local waterways around West Palm Beach to see if they could find Mike's car. That was the big piece that they were looking for, his 1979 Maroon Grand Prix. And to my knowledge, this is the first time that the waterways have been searched in regards to Mike.
But there was nothing found in that initial search. But that is almost to be expected. It's a process of elimination. So they know they searched this one so they can cross that out and they just have to keep going. But truly, that is the last we know of what happened to Mike Olson. As I've mentioned, Paige has been a driving force in getting this case out there, getting the facts out there about Mike and just getting people to think about Mike.
And in the show notes, I'm going to link Paige's YouTube video that he did on Mike's case. It's a really well done video where Paige goes to the different spots that we talked about. She did the Wild Side Lounge, the Kennel Club, Mr. G's. So you really get a visual, not only for how close all of these things were, but just how busy this area is. Okeechobee Avenue in West Palm Beach is a very active avenue.
So for it being such a popular part of town, just a popular city, even at 4.35 a.m., people are going to be out. They're going to be ending their night, maybe like Mike was, or they're going to be starting their day, going to the gym, going out, going for walks and runs. So somebody saw something that morning of December 1st, 1979.
And if you know anything about the disappearance of Mike Olson or the whereabouts of his 1979 Grand Prix, you are encouraged to call the Palm Beach Police Department at 561-822-1900. The sources for the timeline today, as mentioned, one of them comes from Paige's YouTube channel, which will be linked in the show notes below. If you want to check that out, I highly recommend it to get more details and visuals about this case. The Minneapolis Star, the Palm Beach Post, and Fort Lauderdale News.
So that is the case of Mike Olson. And again, I just want to say thank you to Paige for bringing this case to my attention. And just as a general rule or blanket statement for this podcast, if there is a case that is personal to you or maybe just one that like you feel passionate about that you don't think it's enough news coverage, please send it my way. You can email us coldandmissingatgmail.com or reach out to us on our website coldandmissing.com.
But with this case, what really struck me was the details of the night. We have so many details about the night that Mike went out, you know, we know that he's at the racetracks and he stays there stays there until it closes. And then, you know, he's making some bets there. And then they go and watch this get this boxing match at another bar and then possibly head to another one and then finally end at Mr. G's, which they closed down at 4am.
Like we really know Mike's whereabouts the night he went missing. The only blank time that we really have for that evening is the roughly two hours after Mike drops his friend off at his car. He was an eight minute drive from the hotel he was staying at, and he was due to work at around 7am. So that's really where it happened. And by all accounts, it sounds like Mike didn't make it back into his room at the Howard Johnson Hotel.
So it kind of feels like it's really just that eight to maybe 10 minutes it would have taken him to drive from the church parking lot to his hotel parking lot. So that's really where this mystery comes down to. And police seem to think that maybe somebody just noticed that he had a lot of money. And that seems to kind of be the prevailing thought, you know, when this case is discussed online on online forums like Websleuth or Reddit or, you know, anything like that.
But I think it does make sense here. You know, we know he cashed his $700 check from his parents and that he had just been paid and that was cashed as well. So he had cash on him that day. I don't know if he brought it all with him. It's never been publicly discussed if they found money in his room. But he had this brand new 1979 Grand Prix maroon car. Like he's 20. He's got money. He's got a car. He's, you know, kind of a hot shot right now.
And did someone take notice of that and want some of the money, want the car? And it was a robbery that went wrong. You know, from this point, it's just like wild speculation about what could have happened to him. But that couple from Arizona, that's kind of something I keep coming back to of them hearing a scuffle, but, you know, just kind of minding their own business. They didn't want to report it. They didn't look outside to investigate it.
But they did hear kind of a disturbance in the parking lot. So it could have happened in the hotel parking lot. Maybe somebody followed him and made their move there in the parking lot. This is 1979, so, you know, there's no real CCTV footage from the parking lot that night. But it is just like sad to me. Like, you know, it sounds like he was trying to be responsible. He made sure his friends got home.
And then what should have just been a really quick turnaround, something happened to somebody who was, you know, doing everything right. And that's just like, that kills me. And the fact that he, that we've never been able to find his car, like, cars don't, like, people don't disappear and cars don't disappear from this planet. So where is that car?
I do think Paige is on the right track of, like, contacting these organizations that search waterways that have the means and the people and the know how to do it. Because to me, that makes a lot of sense that if you needed to get rid of a car in a hurry, the fastest way would probably be to sink it. I am very hopeful in this case. A lot because of Paige's involvement, like, he's really hitting the pavement, emailing podcasts, making sure that Mike is not forgotten at all.
And when that kind of pressure is put out there and when somebody is, you know, really kind of actively investigating from the outside the way that Paige is, it puts pressure on police to also be doing that. Because people will want to know, like, why? Why don't we have this answer to why this young man disappeared, right? When he was, like, starting his life and just building exactly what he wanted. Why was it cut short? Like, we need that answer. His family deserves that answer.
He has siblings, he has nieces and nephews now that want to know what happened to him. But with advocates like Paige and podcasts like ours and listeners like you, like, we are all helping get his name out there again and to be thinking of him kind of collectively. You know, I really believe in, like, the power of prayers and meditations and thoughtfulness and just being really mindful of your thoughts.
And I believe that, like, we can get answers for what happened to Mike and bring those answers to his family that are looking for them. So again, if you know anything about what happened to Mike Olsen in December of 1979 in West Palm Beach, Florida, please call the Palm Beach Police Department at 561-822-1900.
As I kind of mentioned earlier, if you have a case that you are very passionate about, maybe that is very personal to you, somebody you went to high school with, somebody that you knew, or maybe even somebody in your own family, if that is a case that you would like us to cover and research, please email us at coldandmissingatgmail.com. Or you can head over to our website, coldandmissing.com, where we also will have transcripts of the episode.
So if you or someone you know is hard of hearing, you can read along with the podcast and the transcript will be right on there. And again, I know I mentioned it at the top, but thank you so much to everyone who rated and reviewed us recently. It has been so meaningful to me. And thank you if you are joining us on YouTube. We have a lot of subscribers joining us daily over there. So thank you so much for that. I know it's, I don't do anything fancy on the YouTube.
It's really just the podcast with a picture on a video. But I really appreciate everyone on YouTube who stays, who listens, and we have great conversations in the comments. So if maybe that's how you like to enjoy your podcast, we're also over there. You can find us there and subscribe. We will also be posting pictures of Mike on our Instagram this week. So if you're not already, please follow us at cold and missing on Instagram, you should search us and we'll pop right up.
And also there, you know, we post active missing person reports that are coming out by the day. So those are always in our stories. And also, you know, if there's ever a reason that we're not going to get an episode out as intended or as promised, then we will put it on our Instagram. And so you can always stay informed. I always want to keep you guys informed because it means a lot to me that I'm a part of your week and that you're here with me and listening to me.
So I really want to respect your time and this relationship for lack of a better word that we've created. You expect me to put out an episode and I hope that you listen. But I think that is all I have. So thank you again for listening. This is cold and missing. I'm Allie McLaughlin-Sulkowski. Have a great week and stay safe, y'all.