Deanie Peters

* Living photo
* Age progressed

**Dean Marie "Deanie" Peters** (occasionally listed as **"Pyle Peters"**) was a teenager who disappeared from Grand Rapids, Michigan on February 5, 1981. Foul play is suspected in her case and she was declared legally dead in 1991.

On July 2, 2021, a man was charged in connection to Deanie's disappearance.

## Case

Deanie Peters was last seen at at Forest Hills Central Middle School in the 5800 block of Ada Drive southeast at 5:00 PM. She was at her six-year-old brother's wrestling practice with her mother when she said she was going to the women's restroom and would be back shortly. She was last seen walking out the door of the gymnasium to either smoke a cigarette or go to a friend's home. She was never heard from again and left behind her wallet, purse, makeup, jewelry, clothing and several hundred dollars behind at home.

At the time of her disappearance, Peters was not having any serious family or school problems and had no prior history of being a runaway. She was an eighth-grader who aspired to be a model. She was originally from California where her father was living at the time; she lived with her mother and stepfather who have since moved to Arizona.

Investigators have ruled out her stepfather and the school's custodian, Arthur Diaz, in being involved in her disappearance. They were also unable to find any evidence Peters' body was burned in the school's incinerator. At one point, investigators considered suspected serial killer Larry DeWayne Hall a suspect. Hall is speculated to be responsible for the disappearances up to forty-five women during the 1980s and 1990s. Hall was known to target girls in middle or high school, so Peters would fit his general victim profile. He is currently incarcerated at a North Carolina federal prison for the 1993 kidnapping and murder of Jessica Roach. He has not been charged for any other murders besides Roach's, however.

Two days prior to her disappearance, Peters got into a fight with two girls over a boy. They allegedly threatened her and told them to stay away from him. One of the girls knew Bruce Bunch, who at the time was a seventeen-year-old high school junior. Years later, Bunch allegedly confessed to killing Peters. On the day her disappearance, he allegedly saw her and drove his car at her to scare her, but hit a patch and accidentally ran over and killed her. He may have hid her body in the brush and later buried it in the Snow Avenue area.

Bunch confessed multiple versions of this story to various people, including his two wives, the first whom he was violent and abusive to. However, he was never questioned or charged by police and died of a heart attack in 2008. In 2021, police announced they believed Bunch despite being unable to prove his claims. They believe multiple people have information on what happened, one of whom is a woman who still lives in the area and failed a polygraph test.

### Recent developments

On July 2, 2021, James Douglas Frisbie was charged in connection to Deanie's disappearance. He was charged with perjury, and resisting and obstructing police.

## Characteristics

* Brown hair.
* Brown eyes.
* Pierced ears.
* Birthmark on her lower back.
* Smoker.

## Sources

* Deanie Peters at *NCMEC*
* Deanie Peters at *NamUs*
* Deanie Peters at the *Charley Project*
* Deanie Peters at the *Doe Network*
* Radford University article on Larry DeWayne Hall
* *13 On Your Side*