Cold Case Program with Michigan State Police
Linda Meteer Hero Area

Linda Meteer

The Crime

In the late afternoon of Thursday, April 27, 1989, the body of an unidentified female homicide victim was discovered in Hoosier Valley, near Traverse City. The victim was later identified as Linda Marie Meteer, a 41 year old mother of five children.

First reported missing on April 20, 1989, Meteer was last seen leaving a bar in Chum's Corner.

The Cold Case

Since her body was found 35 years ago, the Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Office continued to investigate this unsolved murder. “It is believed that with the advancements in technology and forensic sciences, the continued dedication of our detectives, and information from our community, we will be able to identify the suspect in this murder and bring them to justice,” a statement said.

On February 18, 2025, the Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Office arrested 63-year-old Steven Gary Koon from Leelanau County. He was charged with first-degree murder. The trial began the first week of June 2026, where jurors heard testimony from forensic experts, law enforcement officers, medical experts, and people who knew both Koon and Meteer before the case was handed over for deliberations. After nearly two days of deliberations, the jurors found Koon guilty of second-degree murder on June 8th, 2026. While this is the lesser charge in the open murder case, there was peace and closure brought to Linda’s community and family.

How WMU Cold Case Program Students are Helping

Students in the program helped detectives at the Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Office by digitizing Linda’s case file and creating various documents like detailed timelines and other searchable documents to help detectives in their work. Capt. Chris Clark said, "We collectively, at the sheriff’s office, believe [the arrest happened] now because of the dedicated detectives, the collaborative efforts with Western Michigan University Cold Case Program, the state police forensic labs and the advances in forensic sciences”.

Captain Clark explains what it feels like to have an arrest made after nearly 36 years. “I think honestly, it just, kind of gives you a little bit of pride at the work that your detectives are doing. The work that the students at Western Michigan University is doing, the work that people at the state labs is doing it right.”