New clues sought in 1993 cold case

Detective Mark Burbridge holds a photo of Michaelle Champagne, reported missing in the early 1990s. (SR/Jesse Tinsley)

Michaelle Champagne never went long without checking in with her family in Belgium.

But after Champagne, a Spokane resident, called her parents during a visit to Washington, D.C., on March 9, 1993, they never heard from her again.

Spokane police Detective Mark Burbridge, who has reopened the missing person case, thinks she was murdered. He’s hoping recently obtained DNA and a re-examination of the case will turn up some clue to Champagne’s fate. July 1 would have been her 48th birthday.

“She is the kind of young lady who called home every week to say ‘Hi’ to her parents,” Burbridge said.

Read the rest of Chelsea Bannach’s story here.