Michigan State Police seek information in 1981 homicide of 29-year-old woman

SALINE, Mich. (WILX) - Michigan State Police are asking for the public’s assistance for information in a murder case that has been unresolved for 40 years.

Mary Alice Ellicott, 29, was last seen at the Polar Bear Bar on U.S. 12 in Saline Township on Oct. 11, 1981. Her body was found with multiple stab wounds two weeks later in a grassy field less than two miles from the bar. Police ruled her death a homicide.

The Polar Bear Bar has since been renamed Thompson Bar and Grill.

According to authorities, Elliot was well known at the bar and had quit a job as a bartender a week earlier.

On April 1, students and staff from the Michigan State University School of Criminal Justice and detectives from the MSP First Distraction Special Investigation Section visited the original Saline police detectives who investigated the missing person report in 1981 for information in the cold case.

The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information regarding the death of Mary Alice Ellicott is asked to contact Michigan State Police detective sergeant Larry Rothman at 313-407-9379.

Related:

• Michigan State Police seek missing 16-year-old last seen in Ovid
• Teens won’t be charged as adults in killing of Lansing 18-year-old
• Suspect in custody for November homicide in Delta Township

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