Fifteen years later, Eastern Michigan University student's killing remains unsolved
“She would have been the most fantastic mother because of her way with kids,” she said. “They all loved her. They’d gravitate toward her. She’d light up a room when she entered.”
Today, Nancy Welka and her husband Thomas planned to attend a private Mass on the 15th anniversary of the fatal shooting of their daughter at a Pittsfield Township apartment complex.
No one has been found responsible for killing the 22-year-old Eastern Michigan University student, but detectives are reaching out to the public for help.
“This girl deserves justice,” said Pittsfield Township Detective Jason Hohner of the Major Case Team of the Livingston and Washtenaw Narcotics Enforcement Team, or LAWNET, who has been working on the case for two months.
“We’re hoping that somebody will do the right thing and help us out,” Hohner said. “Maybe somebody saw it happen, but was scared to come forward.”
Renee Welka was shot about 2 a.m. while in the driver’s seat of her white Ford Escort in the Glencoe Hills apartment complex where she lived.
She had pulled into the lot when a man approached the car and fired once. The bullet hit her in the back, police said.
Welka drove about 300 yards before losing consciousness. She never made it out of the parking lot and died shortly after being taken to St. Joseph Mercy Hospital.
Whether it was a case of mistaken identity or an attempted carjacking or robbery is unclear, police said. Investigators have not recovered the gun.
A friend sitting next to her identified a man police found in the area as the shooter.
He was charged with murder, but the charge was dropped because of a lack of evidence.
Thomas Welka hopes there will be a break in the case, but is frustrated. There hasn’t been a significant lead in about four years, police said.
“You always think the police are going to find the answer in a couple of days and it doesn’t happen,” he said.
Hohner has reached out to Crime Stoppers to highlight the case and is working to try to have it aired on television soon.
Crime Stoppers and the family are offering rewards of undisclosed amounts for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whomever is responsible.
“Nothing will bring her back, but I just want to know why,” Nancy Welka said. “So many promises for her future and for it to be snuffed out…How could somebody take another person’s life?”
Renee Welka was to enter her senior year in college at the time of her death. She was a marketing major and member of the Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority.
She had been a waitress at the Mountain Jack’s restaurant in Ann Arbor and was paying her way through college. She loved to shop and waterski.
Welka had worked the night before, gone home for several hours and went out again when she was killed.
Nancy Welka and her husband sat outside their lakefront home in Brighton on Tuesday, near a memorial garden they had planted years ago for their daughter.
On a table, there were several photographs, including one of the entire family taken at Nancy and Thomas Welka’s 25th wedding anniversary party. Renee Welka and her older brother, Jay, had planned the event.
"She had a lot of charisma," Nancy Welka said. "She had a real zest for life."
Nancy Welka is often reminded of her daughter. Every now and then, she'll look out across the lake to see a girl with dark hair zip across on water skis.
“You don’t expect to bury your own child,” she said. “It’s hard to believe it’s been 15 years.”
Melanie Maxwell / AnnArbor.com
Nancy Welka looks to the refrigerator at a photograph of her later daughter Renee in the Brighton home she shares with her husband Tom on Tuesday afternoon. Welka keeps photographs or Renee all over her home as a reminder of the daughter she lost to murder 15 years ago.
Comments
lk carter
Thu, Jun 10, 2010 : 10:57 a.m.
i do feel for the deceased and her family!! BUT....another crime was committed just minutes later, when the police arrested a innocent by stander just out of highschool, on his way to college, and put him behind bars for months!! allowing the real killer time to get away!! the police gave the family false hope that they'd captured the gunman! i know few in the area sympathize with blacks being profiled, but stevie wonder could see this guy wasn't a killer!! what? he stashed the gun with his shoes, or did the girl in the passenger seat pull a suge knight?
pegret
Thu, Jan 28, 2010 : 12:31 p.m.
I remember this story from many years ago, and thinking at the time how sad it was that this lovely young woman was taken from her family in what appeared to be a random act of violence. Hopefully this article will result in someone finally coming forward or some new evidence being brought to light. I'm sure the detectives who worked on this case have not forgotten Renee Welka.
Steve Hendel
Mon, Nov 16, 2009 : 12:45 p.m.
Why is LAWNET involved in this case? Is this a narcotics investigation?
kriddy5
Wed, Aug 5, 2009 : 9:52 p.m.
praying for the family
JTW
Mon, Aug 3, 2009 : 3:43 p.m.
It is still hard to believe that 15-years has passed since the loss of my sister. I appreciate Melanie Maxwell's compassion in writing this article. Her words reflect my parent's pain and how much emptiness they feel after Renee's passing. Detective Jason Hohner will hopefully help bring justice to my sister's case. The experience of seeing my parents anguish after her death still burns in my mind like it was yesterday. My parent's and I appreciate those who have kept us in your thoughts and prayers!
ypsi_arbor
Fri, Jul 31, 2009 : 8:40 p.m.
I'm Jay. Apparently a2.com got offended by my comments and deleted my profile. But a2huron, we could argue semantics about where the money is coming from to fund this investigation, but it's reasons like this that cause the federal government to do what they just had to do: Spend $34M in police funding for the state of Michigan to retain officers for the next few years. This case should not be open. Even if officers only spend 10 hours a week on it, they've already spent close to $4k that could've gone to paying a traffic cop's salary for a month. Again, I really don't want to sound heartless because someone's family is grieving due to this loss and this case not being solved. It just seems really impractical to me.
a2huron
Thu, Jul 30, 2009 : 7:48 p.m.
Jay - yes, he is a PT cop, but his current assignment must be LAWNET. And the rest of LAWNET folks come from various other law enforcement agencies on assignment for a year or two. They report and work for LAWNET during this time. Sheriff deputies, AA PD, State Police, etc. all comprise LAWNET.
Jay
Thu, Jul 30, 2009 : 5:03 p.m.
@a2huron, Detective Jason Hohner is a Pittsfield Twnshp cop. LAWNET is made up of officers and detectives in Washtenaw and Livingston counties. And this case seems cooler than cold. "Frozen" seems like a more reasonable description because of no leads and no new facts.
1201SouthMain
Thu, Jul 30, 2009 : 2:40 p.m.
hunh, If my memory is correct the passenger identified a teenager that had come down from his apartment to see what was going on. The kid was standing there without shoes on just watching and the passenger pointed him out to police. They arrested the kid and took him to jail where he stayed for what seems likes weeks if not months if I remember correctly. They could come up with no evidence to link the kid to the crime and finally released him. The studies on eyewitness identifications are alarming and I have always thought this was a case of misidentification. I hope they somehow could find some evidence but I have serious doubts that the person identified is the killer.
a2huron
Thu, Jul 30, 2009 : 2:37 p.m.
Actually Jay this matter is being handled by LAWNET according to the news article, not by Pittsfield. The officer quoted is assigned to LAWNET. I could be wrong, but I believe this is one of the duties that LAWNET pursues (cold cases), along with major drug investigations.
Jay
Thu, Jul 30, 2009 : 12:34 p.m.
*Edit I meant that this case should not have been open for the last 2 months.
Jay
Thu, Jul 30, 2009 : 12:32 p.m.
I really hate to sound like the bad guy here, but in a time where the police force is hurting badly economically, I think the city would be best served to spend man hours elsewhere. If there was insufficient evidence to convict the lead suspect 15 years ago, and there have been no strong leads in the past 15 years, this case should not have been open for the last 15 months. I feel extremely bad for the family of the victim for a) having this horrible crime happen in the first place, and b) having to live knowing that their daughter's, sister's, aunt's, friend's case has gone unsolved. This really seems like a PR stunt on behalf of Pittsfield Dept. Public Safety.
Tangameanie
Thu, Jul 30, 2009 : 11:47 a.m.
Heartbreaking story, but told beautifully through those amazing photographs.
Adrienne
Thu, Jul 30, 2009 : 11:43 a.m.
As friends of the Welkas, we are heartened to see that Renee's case is not forgotten and appreciate the police efforts and the attention of Ann Arbor.com. Any resolution would offer some relief to the family.
hunh
Thu, Jul 30, 2009 : 9:50 a.m.
sounds like they need to find evidence, they know who did it. the passenger identified the man and had to let him go. "A friend sitting next to her identified a man police found in the area as the shooter... He was charged with murder, but the charge was dropped because of a lack of evidence."