Two Sisters Missing: The 1974 Reker Murders Paperback – February 5, 2017

I’m from central MN and have always heard about this case but didn’t know any specifics. This author did a great job and it was a quick read and includes pictures of the suspects in the case. Great author!

This is a reasonably well-written account of unsolved murder. It has the readability and religion of facts newspaper journalists used to be famous for, but which is mostly abandoned by today's digital circus. On the other hand, I would appreciate a chapter or two more of possible explanations, even if it just speculation. For instance, surely the family has some theories I'd like to hear. I've heard a rumor that the police unofficially know who committed this crime, but simply cannot prove it. So if this case is solved in all but an arrest and guilty verdict, I wish the author would tell us. Finally, I hope we can all keep in mind that a real family lost two irreplaceable girls; this is not merely a fictional crime thriller.

Growing up locally, it was a good history lesson. Sad story of two sisters who were murdered.

TWO SISTERS MISSING examines the unsolved murder cases of Mary and Susanne Reker of St. Cloud, Minnesota, in 1974. This case holds special interest for me as the two girls were my distant cousins. I was especially interested in knowing whether any DNA evidence had been preserved. These days many unsolved cases are being solved as a result of tracing DNA through family members who have sent their DNA to such sites as Ancestry.com. I followed the case closely in 1974, but Robert Dudley includes several items I wasn't aware of, namely a similar case that happened about two years after the Reker murders. A Dairy Land convenience store was robbed and the young female clerk was kidnapped. She was knifed with a similar weapon to the one that took the lives of Mary and Susanne, although she survived. They were able to arrest the two boys responsible. Mary knew one of them. He worked at the department store where she and her sister went to buy school supplies and look at winter coats. He also went to the same church Mary had attended in Luxemburg a small town near St. Cloud where Mary's grandmother lived. Witnesses said she had followed him out of church one Sunday when he left in the middle of the service. At first the detectives dismissed this boy because he passed a polygraph and because they couldn't find a connection. Obviously that wasn't true. Another eerie piece of evidence is that Mary left a diary entry about being scare dof somebody, and that if something happened to her, her family should look for her killer. She had withdrawn money from her babysitting account just before she disappeared. I had a problem with the book in that it's very repetitive. The author repeats his preface almost word for word, and in the event that you still didn't remember he includes a blow by blow addendum repeating the events again. Despite it's flaws I'd recommend the book if you're looking for an update on a forty year old case. Rita, the mother, is still alive and works with other families with missing children.

Been in St. Cloud for 10 yrs. Heard about this through my father in law whom knew the family and was neighbors. Peeked my interest to learn more about what happened. I’d recommend this book because it taught me history of the town I live in. Unfortunately it is a great read and I hope she finds her answer.

This author has several books out all very good

Its very sad that the authorities did such a bad job of finding the killer(s). I feel for this family.

Interesting read as I was this age when this happened and from the same area.

It was a good recalling of what happened, but I feel that the fact that Mrs. Reker feels that she knows who did this and he is now dead should have been put into the end of the book.