WARNING: Under no circumstances should you enter this property. By doing so you risk bodily harm and/or prosecution for trespassing on private property.

We’ve been down this road before. We’ve done this topic a few times and I felt it was about time to add some refreshers and info that hadn’t been covered yet.

But first, a recap of this incident that happened on Easter Day, Sunday April 15, 1990: It happened just a few miles outside of Coldwater and mirrors the  2001 horror film, "Jeepers Creepers." The similarities between fact and film fiction are staggering...ten years after the crime, the film was released.

THE TRUE STORY: Coldwater high school counselor Marilyn DePue disappeared on Easter of 1990 and neighbors immediately pointed a suspicious finger at her husband, Dennis. Thanks to a marriage that became loveless and constantly argumentative, Marilyn filed for divorce. Angry and hostile, Dennis beat her right in full view of their three children and coaxed her into going with him in their van, stating he wanted to go to the hospital.

They never arrived -  Dennis shot her in the back of the head, wrapped her body in a sheet and dumped it behind an abandoned church. A brother & sister were out driving and came across Dennis unloading the bloody sheet and attempted to get the van's license plate number to no avail.

The night the case was featured on "Unsolved Mysteries" on March 20, 1991, Dennis was watching the episode at his new home in Dallas and now calling himself "Hank Queen." He tried to flee, but after a high-speed chase that went into Mississippi, police caught up with him after disabling the speeding van. Bullets flew between police and DePue and then all went silent…no longer was DePue firing back. Working their way up to the van, police looked inside and saw the dead body of Dennis DePue. Upon investigation, they found the van was packed with items including clothes that were preventing the police bullets from hitting DePue. They found his body with a gun in his hand and finger on the trigger. Instead of giving himself up, Dennis committed suicide in order to avoid capture.

Some facts on the DePue couple…

DENNIS DePUE was born in Sturgis, Michigan on June 13, 1943. He grew up in Burr Oak, graduated from Burr Oak High, and later received a bachelors degree in business from MSU. He worked for the State of Michigan’s Dept. of Treasury, taught business education, was a member of the MSU Alumni Association, dug the Spartans, and attended the Burr Oak Methodist Church. He met his end at age 47 on March 21, 1991 in Vicksburg, Mississippi and is buried in Eagle Cemetery, Indiana.

MARILYN DePUE was born on January 24, 1941 in Detroit. She was a counselor at Coldwater High School and was murdered at the age of 49 on Easter Sunday, April 15, 1990. She was buried in Oakland Hills Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Novi, Michigan. Following her death, the Marilyn DePue Memorial College Fund was instigated at Coldwater High School.

Below is a photo gallery featuring different inside and outside photos than in the previous articles.

Jeepers Creepers Re-Visited

SEE MANY MORE PHOTOS INSIDE THE SCHOOLHOUSE HERE.

OTHER MICHIGAN-RELATED CRIMES:

Murder/Suicide Location in Brice, Michigan

The Murder of Betsy Aardsma

Ted Bundy & Ann Rule

 

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