Previously on Unsolved.

But police haven't ruled out other possibilities, like Michelle knowing an intruder if there is one.

They are combing most of the city for leads, concentrating searches along the river.

Police thinks she could have fallen into the water, gotten carried downstream, and possibly drowned.

From my memories, I do believe whoever came in my bedroom took her.

For the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, I'm criminal justice investigative reporter Gina Barton.

This is season two of Unsolved, a toddler's death, a tangled trail.

Mike Manders was out of town on October 13, 1981,

the night his two-and-a-half-year-old daughter Michelle went missing.

But there was someone else at the house that night.

Terry Mueller, who was friends with Michelle's mom, Jan.

Jan and Terry met a couple of months before Michelle disappeared.

And what happened was they were both applying for jobs at a nursing home.

Terry, who has some intellectual disabilities, was having some trouble passing the test.

And Jan was talking to her afterwards,

kind of trying to comfort her, make her feel better about it.

And in the end, Jan got a job offer and Terry didn't.

And so Jan felt sorry for her and invited her to come out for coffee.

She seemed like a friendly person,

and I hadn't met that many friends there myself.

I felt bad because she didn't get the job she wanted.

As Terry and Jan were getting to know each other, they both talked about their families.

...