The Skeleton Key Chronicles

11 hours ago

On June 25, 1968, Richard and Shirley Robison arrived at their vacation cabin, Summerset, near Good Hart, Michigan with their four children, Richard Jr., Randall, Gary, and Susan. Because of its remote location, nearly a month passed before anyone realized something had gone wrong.

The Robison family had planned to spend part of the summer at the secluded cabin tucked deep in the woods along Lake Michigan. It wasn't until 27 days later that someone checked on the property and made a discovery that would launch the investigation into one of Michigan's coldest cases.

Apparently before state police even arrived, numerous local residents walked through the cabin to chexknout the scene for themselves. An undersheriff is also said to have handled evidence considered important to the investigation, which raised concerns that valuable forensic information may have been lost before the investigation was even fully underway.

As investigators worked to piece together what happened, attention increasingly focused on Richard Robison's business partner, Joe Scolaro. A forensic audit later determined that more than 50K was missing from company accounts under Scolaro's control, a massive sum in 1968. Investigators also examined telephone records that reportedly documented a conversation between the two men around the time the family disappeared.

Scolaro was questioned extensively and reportedly failed three separate polygraph examinations. Despite the mounting suspicion, prosecutors never brought charges against him in connection with the case. Jurisdictional challenges between local authorities, the Michigan State Police, and officials in Oakland County further complicated an already difficult investigation.

Then in 1973, Scolaro passed away after leaving behind a note admitting to financial wrongdoing while also denying any role in what happened to the Robison family.

Nearly six decades later, no one has ever been charged, and the events surrounding the Robison family's time at Summerset remain the subject of discussion, and speculation.

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The Skeleton Key Chronicles

1 day ago

Twenty-four years ago today, 19-year-old Brookley Louks called police to report a burglary at her Greenwood, Indiana home after discovering her computer had been stolen. Later that same day, she vanished.

It was around 4 p.m. when Brookley returned home from work and realized her computer was missing. After calling her father to tell him it appeared someone had been inside the residence, she contacted police. Officers responded to the home and took a burglary report around 5:30 p.m.

Several reports indicate that Brookley may have later been seen getting into the passenger side of her own vehicle, suggesting someone else may have been driving, although investigators have never publicly identified who that person may have been. Her car was found abandoned on July 1, 2002, roughly ten miles from her home.

As investigators searched for answers, attention eventually turned to 53-year-old Joseph Nowicki, an acquaintance of Brookley's. Investigators later discovered blood belonging to Brookley at his residence and believed someone had attempted to clean up a substantial amount of it. Nowicki maintained that it happened when Brookely helped with a previous upholstery project the two had worked on together, but investigators remained focused on the lead. Authorities were reportedly preparing to pursue additional charges before Nowicki passed away in 2003.

The investigation generated another major development years later when authorities searched a rural property connected to the case. During a 2019 search, specialized search dogs alerted to an area of disturbed soil where investigators recovered a buried plastic tarp, evidence suggesting human remains had once been present, as well as two small bone fragments. One fragment was destroyed during initial testing and it wasn't enough to render a result. The second remains in police custody as investigators wait to see whether future advances in DNA technology may provide additional information. Twenty-four years later, Brookely remains missing and no one has ever been charged in connection with her disappearance.

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The Skeleton Key Chronicles

1 day ago

The Mackenzie Shirilla case was back in the news this week after the Supreme Court of Ohio declined to hear her latest appeal. Shirilla was convicted in connection with the 2022 Strongsville crash that claimed the lives of Dominic Russo and Davion Flanagan.

Since her conviction, her attorneys have continued challenging the case through the courts. With this latest decision, those efforts appear to have reached the end of the road in Ohio.

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