A Western Michigan University criminal-justice class just turned its semester project into real-world detective work, helping Michigan State Police take a fresh look at the 2016 killing of Alexandra "Ally" Brueger, the Holly-area runner found shot along Fish Lake Road. By sorting decades of paperwork, building timelines, and indexing tips, the students gave troopers a searchable, modern view of a case file that had been gathering dust. For Brueger's family and local investigators, the class has brought badly needed momentum to a murder that has stayed unsolved for nearly a decade.
In a segment from FOX 2 Detroit, Dr. Ashlyn Kuersten and senior Sam Stately walk through how students teamed up with Michigan State Police on the Brueger case. The piece shows students digitizing old case material, building detailed timelines, and creating tip indexes that detectives can quickly search instead of flipping through binders. The video, posted July 2, 2026, spotlights the university's classroom-as-investigative-lab approach that turns term projects into actual case support.
Brueger was 31 when she was shot during an afternoon run on July 30, 2016, and found along Fish Lake Road, according to authorities at the time. State troopers asked residents to watch for a white or light-colored four-door sedan and pushed for tips to the Michigan State Police tip line. Those early details, along with emotional pleas from Brueger's family, were captured in contemporaneous coverage by CBS Detroit.
How Students Pitched In
The WMU class did not run lab tests or dust for prints. Instead, students focused on making existing clues usable. They sorted and indexed stacks of paper records, mapped out timelines, and flagged inconsistencies in witness statements to help detectives decide which leads deserve a second look. Reporting on the broader Cold Case Program at WMU shows students routinely serve as a research arm for police agencies, giving overworked investigators a way to triage heavy caseloads without pulling officers off patrol. As described by WMUK, students receive security clearance and work under faculty supervision before handling sensitive investigative files.
Western Michigan University says its Cold Case Program has helped detectives resolve multiple decades-old homicides and has logged tens of thousands of student hours, a milestone the school touts as a national benchmark for student-law enforcement partnerships. A June 16 release highlighted collaborations with Michigan State Police and other departments and argued that the model increases investigative capacity at relatively modest cost to local governments. As detailed by WMU News, program leaders say the setup both trains future investigators and directly supports ongoing detective work.
What Investigators Want From The Public
Michigan State Police still classify Brueger's killing as an open homicide and continue to ask anyone with information to call the statewide tip line at 1-855-MICH-TIP, as noted by Michigan.gov. Tips that come in are routed to detectives handling cold cases across Michigan and have led to progress in other investigations. The renewed attention from WMU students has turned the Brueger case file into a better-organized, easier-to-search resource that investigators can now test against both old tips and any new leads that might finally surface.
