Nancy Renkas

Nancy Renkas was a beloved 47-year-old mother from Florence, Wisconsin, known for her caring nature. On the morning of July 18, 2016, she drove to the neighboring city of Iron Mountain, Michigan, to pick up groceries for a special family dinner. Her children, Kaylyn and Joseph Renkas, later explained the meal was to celebrate the recent sale of their family's campground in Pembine, Wisconsin. Nancy, a white female, purchased the supplies at a Super One Foods grocery store, but she would never make it home to celebrate with her family.

That Monday, after shopping, Nancy left perishable groceries inside her car, suggesting she planned to return quickly. Around 12:30 p.m., surveillance footage from the nearby Midtown Mall parking lot showed her getting into the passenger seat of a white SUV. The vehicle was then seen heading east on U.S. 2. This was the last time Nancy was ever seen. Her disappearance triggered a years-long investigation that would eventually be reclassified as a homicide, leaving her loved ones grappling with unanswered questions in their search for justice.

The Dickinson County Sheriff's Office, with assistance from the Michigan Attorney General's Office, led the complex investigation. Early on, the driver of the white SUV was identified as a person of interest and interviewed by law enforcement. In August 2020, during a court hearing for an unrelated matter, a detective testified that Nancy’s sister-in-law, Louise Wender, was the suspect in the case. Wender later confirmed in a 2021 interview that the vehicle was her 2010 Lincoln Navigator. She stated she had picked Nancy up to look at a camper for sale but claimed they never found it and that she dropped Nancy back off at the mall parking lot.

On the sixth anniversary of Nancy’s disappearance in July 2022, the Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office officially declared the case a no-body homicide, stating there was no evidence to suggest she had vanished on her own and that she had disappeared under perilous circumstances. The investigation gained public visibility in August 2024, when a multi-agency task force executed search warrants on over 200 acres of land in Breitung Township, near Upper Pine Creek Road and Grandview Drive. Authorities described this area as the last place Nancy was believed to have been seen alive. One of the properties searched belonged to Louise and her husband, Dale Wender.

Despite being named the sole suspect, Louise Wender was never charged with a crime. In November 2025, she and her husband filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Dickinson County Sheriff's Office, the county prosecutor, and the Iron Mountain Police Department. The lawsuit accused the agencies of improperly withholding case files and sought to unseal search warrant affidavits. In the filing, the Wenders asserted their innocence, claiming their reputations had been ruined. Their attorney argued that witnesses had reported seeing Nancy alive after she was last seen with Louise.

The Wenders' lawsuit was ultimately dismissed in May 2026. However, the legal action was successful in bringing hundreds of pages of case files and new information to light. The released documents reportedly contained details about conflicting statements, recovered text messages, DNA evidence, and cadaver dog searches, providing new context to the day Nancy vanished.

As of November 2026, more than ten years after she disappeared from a parking lot, Nancy Renkas's remains have not been found. No arrests have been made, and her case remains an active homicide investigation. The community and her family continue to seek answers and closure. Authorities encourage anyone with information to contact Detective Lt. Brian Polzien with the Dickinson County Sheriff's Office at (906) 774-6262.