SHEBOYGAN CO, Wis. — All Charlee Russ has left of her mother is a handful of pictures and a postcard love note that reads:
“I was thinking of you and thought I’d send a card to say how much I love and miss you.”
“I don’t have pictures of me when I was a baby, so it’s kind of funny that I have some of these other pictures,” Russ said, staring down at a photo collage on the table. “It’s nice to see my mom and her smile.”
They’re cherished memories from when her Native American mother, Rhys Pocan, was still alive.
Sadly, Pocan was murdered and dismembered in August 1989. Her killer was never caught.
Watch: Daughter of 1989 Sheboygan cold case murder victim still searching for answers
“Her torso was actually found in Sheboygan County.”
A story TMJ4 produced in September 1989 shows the moments when Rhys’ murder started to unfold.
Investigators were combing the area for clues when her remains were found on state land in the Town of Lyndon.
Russ was only 8 years old at the time. She still remembers those final moments with her mother like it was yesterday.
“She was about to leave, and I was like, ‘I want to go with you,’” she recalled. “‘No, you’ve got to stay here…’ And then I watched her ride away on her bike.”
The case went cold for over 30 years, taking a serious toll on the family: “not knowing who it is, and that they’re still out there.”
Russ said she believes not enough was done at the beginning of the investigation because her mother was of Indigenous descent, hailing from the Menominee and Ojibwe tribes.
"This is a big thing that's going on throughout the United States and it's not fair."
But the Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Department gave the case another hard look in 2022.
The detective on the case tells me they’re making progress but can’t release any more information just yet.
“It was a long time of no answers.”
Just last week, the Crime Junkie podcast released its last episode of this cold case series, one of Russ’ several efforts to bring her mother’s killer to justice.
Crime Junkie will also release a documentary about Pocan on its YouTube channel on March 7.
Russ launched a GoFundMe in hopes of financing a cash reward for tips, assisting with police investigation costs, and supporting organizations that spread awareness about missing and murdered Indigenous people.
I asked Russ what’s kept her going all these years later.
“I know we are so close. I can just feel it,” she said. “Something is going to come about this.”
Those few mementos are visual reminders not to give up hope.
If you have any information about the murder of Rhys Pocan, contact Det. Nathan Hatch at the Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Office at 920-459-3135 or nathan.hatch@sheboygancounty.com.
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