Mary Kathleen Schlais and her two brothers grew up in Champlin and attended Anoka High School. Mary graduated with honors from the University of Minnesota with an art degree, having earned numerous scholarships. She was passionate about painting and sculpture, dreaming of becoming a professional artist.

She showcased her work—sculptures, paintings, and drawings of women—at the Women’s Institute for Social Change at the YCA. She loved to travel, Mary hitchhiked often, studied abroad, and was fluent in German and Danish, with budding skills in Japanese.

February 15, 1974, 10:30 AM

10:30 AM Mary left her Uptown Minneapolis Kenwood apartment carrying a sign that read “Madison”, with plans to attend an art show in Chicago, intending to hitchhike as she often did. Her roommate, Judith, was the last person to see her, noting that Mary was dressed in a tan, furry coat and carrying a purse.

On February 15, 1974, 1:30 PM

Three hours later a driver with his dog, exploring a dead-end road, witnessed two people fighting. When he returned to check, he found Mary’s body in a ditch, the assailant and his gold-colored compact car gone. Mary, dressed in a maroon turtleneck and blue-dyed socks, was found along a rural road near Elk Creek Lake in Wisconsin—90 miles from where she began her trip.

Mary K. Schlais was found deceased stabbed at least 15 times near the intersection of 408th Ave. and 990th St. in the Township of Spring Brook, Dunn County. Mary’s death at that time was ruled a homicide. The initial investigation revealed that Mary was from Minneapolis, MN and was believed to be hitchhiking from Minneapolis, MN to an art show in Chicago, IL.

Investigators believe she was murdered in the vehicle or another location. Tire impressions at the scene were unclear due to fresh snow, but authorities took photos and samples. An orange and black stocking hat, believed to belong to the killer, was found nearby, containing hair fibers that led nowhere. DNA under Mary’s fingernails and bloodstains on her clothing also provided no solid leads. A suspect was described as approximately 6 feet tall, 180 pounds, with a thick mustache and hazel eyes.

Despite a nationwide alert and many tips, progress was minimal. The tight timeline from when Mary left her apartment to when her body was discovered—just under three hours—suggests her killer drove directly to the dump site to cover the 90-mile distance. Her body was still warm despite the cold winter day.

An autopsy was performed at Sacred Heart Hospital and showed she had more than a dozen stab wounds on her upper body, including on her back and defensive cuts to hands, indicating she had put up a big struggle with her killer.” The autopsy report indicated that Schlais’s death was due to exsanguination (a medical term for blood loss) as a result of multiple stab wounds

An orange and black stocking cap was located on the road near Schlais’ body, and investigators recovered human hairs from it that did not belong to the victim. 

MENOMONIE – The body of a woman tentatively identified as Mary L. Schlais, 25, of Minneapolis, was found Friday afternoon alongside a road about 10 miles northwest of Menomonie. The victim was reported to have been stabbed with a long, thin instrument between 13 and 15 puncture wounds to the chest, neck, and abdomen. She had long brown hair and was wearing jeans. Dunn County Sheriff Daryl Sognsvold said the victim was hitchhiking from Minneapolis to Madison for an art show.

A white male between the ages of 25 and 35 is being sought in connection with the death. He is described as being about 5 feet, 8 inches tall, with a slim build and light brown hair. Witnesses reported seeing a man matching that description in the area where the body was found. Authorities said a tan or light-colored compact car was also seen in the area.

The investigation has indicated that the victim may have been picked up near the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and then was driven into Wisconsin. Her body was found lying face down in the snow, about 12 feet off the main road and between the snowbanks.

Sheriff Sognsvold said the man sought in connection with the death of Mary L. Schlais, 25, of Minneapolis, whose body was found Friday in Dunn County road ditch, was 5 feet, 8 inches tall, weighing about 135 pounds, and between the ages of 25 and 35. Dunn County Sheriff’s deputies are searching for the suspect, who was last seen in the area with a late model compact car.

August 1975

Eight months after her murder, an anonymous note was sent to the crime lab, suggesting the man who found Mary might have been involved. The man was extensively questioned and hypnotized but was ultimately cleared and appeared deeply traumatized by the incident.

By 1976, investigators had followed over 400 leads across the U.S. and Canada, each ultimately leading nowhere. Despite continued efforts, Mary’s case remained unsolved.

January, 2009

In 2009, authorities exhumed her body for additional DNA testing, but even this advanced technology has yet to identify her killer. Investigators remain determined to bring justice to Mary, haunted by the unanswered questions that linger in her case.

May 10, 2024

Through the process of IGG, utilizing the partial DNA profile collected from the stocking cap previously referenced, an individual, who is fully identified and referred to as MG, was identified as a possible relative to the unidentified suspect. Dunn County Investigator Dan Westlund conducted an in person interview with MG at his home in Casper, WY. MG voluntarily uploaded his genetic information to a website utilized by Binder and her associates involved in IGG casework. Binder was then able to determine that MG was not the contributor to the partial DNA profiled generated from the hat scrapings.

June 13, 2024

Investigator Westlund interviewed DB at his residence in East Tawas, MI. DB cooperated and consented to the collection of his DNA for analysis, utilizing the WI State Crime Lab. The results of DB’s DNA subsequently indicated he was not the contributor to the partial DNA profile that was developed from the 1974 crime scene.

October 19, 2024

Investigator Westlund spoke with Binder regarding a possible lead or “person to contact,” which her team and she had found after working to further the investigation. Binder recommended that Investigator Westlund look into Jon Keith Miller, DOB 05/02/1940 and TE. The hypothesis from researchers is that Jon Miller was adopted, from the same family as originally determined by Binder and her associates, and that Miller had a daughter, identified as TE.

November 4, 2024

Investigator Westlund spoke in person with TE at her residence in Askov, MN. TE’s mother, RD, was also present and interviewed. TE agreed to upload her genetic profile for Binder to review and compare with the suspect profile. Upon Binder and her team analyzing the genetic profile, it was determined that the DNA profile obtained from the stocking cap belonged the biological father of TE. Investigators confirmed that TE biological father is Jon Keith Miller, DOB 05/02/1940 and her mother confirmed she was married to Jon Miller from 1973 through 1977.

November 7, 2024

Dunn County Sheriff’s announced an arrest in a 5-decade-old cold case arrest. Authorities in Dunn County, Wisconsin, say they’ve arrested and charged Jon K. Miller a now-84-year-old man in the stabbing death of Mary Kathleen Schlais a Minneapolis woman that occurred in 1974 .

Dunn County Sheriff’s officials speak about 5-decade-old cold case arrest. Authorities in Dunn County, Wisconsin, say they’ve arrested and charged a now-84-year-old man in the stabbing death of a Minneapolis woman that occurred in 1974 .

After decades of investigation into the 1974 murder of Mary Kathleen Schlais, the Dunn County Sheriff’s Office, in collaboration with genetic genealogists from Ramapo College in Mahwah, New Jersey, identified a suspect through investigative genetic genealogy.

Investigators identified Jon Miller as a suspect through genetic evidence—a hair found on a stocking cap left at the crime scene near Mary Kathleen Schlais’s body. The cap was later confirmed to belong to Miller.

Before questioning Miller directly, authorities obtained a genetic profile from his daughter, which led them to conclude that the hair from the stocking cap belonged to her biological father. Investigators noted that Miller’s adoption had initially made tracking him more challenging.

On November 7, 2024, they arrested 84-year-old Jon K. Miller of Owatonna, Minnesota, for Schlais’s homicide. Miller confessed to picking up Schlais while she was hitchhiking, making unwanted sexual advances, and fatally stabbing her when she resisted. He is currently in custody, awaiting extradition to Wisconsin.

Miller allegedly told investigators he pulled off the highway after killing Mary Kathleen Schlais and attempted to conceal her body in a snowbank. However, when another vehicle passed by, he panicked and fled the scene, leaving his stocking cap behind. Shown a photo of the stocking cap that later provided the DNA breakthrough, Miller reportedly confirmed it was his. He was subsequently arrested and booked into the Steele County jail, pending extradition.

204-11-07 Jon K miller Murder Criminal Complaint