New Evidence Uncovered in Nine Year Old Saginaw Cold Case

State police are looking at new evidence in the cold case of a Saginaw man who disappeared nine years ago.

The car of Eric Lee Franks was found in a car lot in Clare, which also went missing around the same time in 2011. Police say the car was found after a California teen, who watched a story about Franks’ disappearance, conducted a Carfax search and discovered a new title had been issued on August 21, 2020 and received an oil change August 31. The owner of the lot bought the car from someone who purchased it in an estate sale in Saginaw.

Franks, 38-years old at the time of his disappearance, was last seen at Miller’s Motel in Bridgeport Township. Police say he had moved to Saginaw County from Ohio in 2010 to be closer to his girlfriend, Kendra Firmingham. Firmingham moved to Florida after Franks’ disappearance. She died in 2016. Firmingham was a caretaker of an incapacitated adult named Gerald Rutledge, who died this past April. According to police, the car had been sitting in Rutledge’s garage.

Police ask anyone with information about the case to call (989) 495-5555.