One of the signs placed in Iron Mountain after Nancy Renkas disappeared in July 2016. This one is almost directly across Stephenson Avenue from the Midtown Mall parking lot where Renkas, of Florence, Wis., had been seen that day. (Betsy Bloom/Daily News, file)

IRON MOUNTAIN — A lawsuit filed in Dickinson County seeks to uncover law enforcement records in the investigation of the 2016 disappearance of Nancy Kathleen Renkas.

The suit filed by Louise and Dale Wender of Breitung Township also seeks to unseal search-warrant affidavits directed at them. The Wenders contend local authorities have improperly hidden records from public view while repeatedly focusing suspicion on them without ever filing criminal charges, attorney Vincent Petrucelli of Iron River said in a news release Monday.

“For nine years, law enforcement has kept this community in the dark while treating Louise and Dale like permanent suspects,” Petrucelli said. “If there is real evidence, the public is entitled to see it. If there is not, the public is entitled to know that, too. What the government cannot do is raid a family home again and again and then hide the basis for those actions behind vague claims of ‘ongoing investigation.'”

Renkas, 47, of Florence, Wis., went missing July 18, 2016, after being recorded by a surveillance camera in the Midtown Mall parking lot in Iron Mountain. She is now presumed dead; the Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office declared the case a homicide investigation in 2022 on the sixth anniversary of her disappearance.

In a 2021 interview with The Daily News, Renkas’ children, Kaylyn and Joseph Renkas, said their mother on July 18, 2016, had gone from their home in Florence to Iron Mountain to buy supplies for a meal to celebrate the sale of the family’s campground in Pembine, Wis., but never returned.

In 2018, then-Dickinson County Undersheriff Scott Metras and then-Detective Lt. Derek Dixon said a surveillance camera showed Renkas about 12:30 p.m. July 18, 2016, getting into a white SUV in the Midtown Mall parking lot that then headed east on U.S. 2. She left perishable groceries in her vehicle, indicating she believed it would be a brief trip, Metras said at the time.

The SUV driver was classified as a “person of interest” early in the investigation and was interviewed by both Florence and Dickinson County law enforcement, Metras said in 2018.

In an interview with The Daily News in July 2021, Louise Wender acknowledged the vehicle was her 2010 Lincoln Navigator. Renkas — the common-law wife of Wender’s brother, Mark Barker, who died in October 2015 at age 54 — had recommended they both check out a camper she’d seen in the Norway area, Wender said. Renkas’ children confirmed the family had discussed purchasing a camper in 2016.

But Wender, with her attorney present, said in the 2021 interview that she returned Nancy Renkas to the Midtown Mall parking lot after never locating the camper.

Wender spoke up after Dixon testified during an online court hearing in August 2020 that she was a suspect in the case, when Wender unsuccessfully sought a protective order against another woman she claimed was harassing her on social media about the disappearance.

The Wenders have now filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit in Dickinson County Circuit Court and a companion motion to unseal search-warrant affidavits they say were used to raid their Upper Pine Creek Road home and property.

In their complaint, they say there is no evidence of criminal activity surrounding Renkas’ disappearance, and no proof of foul play or the cause or manner of her alleged death.

Petrucelli said the FOIA requests seek, among other things:

— Police reports and supplemental reports related to the Renkas investigation.

— Dispatch logs, 911 recordings and logs, missing-person and be-on-the-lookout bulletins, and alerts.

— Tips, leads, interview summaries, and investigative memoranda.

— Evidence and property logs, chain-of-custody records, and forensic and digital-forensics reports.

— Search-warrant materials connected to the investigation.

According to Petrucelli, Dickinson County Sheriff Aaron Rochon, Dickinson County Prosecuting Attorney Abbey Anderson, and the Iron Mountain Police Department have refused to provide these records, citing broad “law enforcement” and “privacy” exemptions. Contacted by email Monday night, none of the agencies offered comment by Tuesday afternoon.

Petrucelli said they have failed to explain:

— Which specific records are being withheld.

— How disclosure would, as FOIA requires, actually interfere with any current proceeding.

— Whether non-exempt portions were reviewed, segregated, and released.

The lawsuit, Petrucelli said, alleges these blanket denials violate FOIA and Michigan case law. The plaintiffs ask the court to:

— Declare that the records are public and non-exempt — in whole or in part.

— Order production of all non-exempt records.

— Require a document index explaining, record by record, any claimed exemption.

— Conduct in-camera review of contested documents to independently test the agencies’ claims.

In a parallel motion, the Wenders ask the court to:

— Unseal the search-warrant affidavits used to justify searches of their home and land in 2016 and 2024.

— Order the return of property and digital data no longer reasonably needed as evidence.

— Impose a protective order to prevent misuse or leak of their private information.

The complaint states “the Wenders’ reputation has been ruined” by the conduct of the sheriff, prosecutor and police department.

The FOIA action was filed in Dickinson County Circuit Court with Judge Mary Barglind. The motion to unseal search-warrant affidavits will be heard in Dickinson County District Court, with a hearing scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 13, Petrucelli said.

If the court orders disclosure, the public will be able to see what leads were pursued and what basis, if any, existed to repeatedly focus on the Wenders, he said.

Petrucelli noted the filing invites targeted redactions to protect confidential sources, investigative techniques or legitimate victim-family privacy. However, he said, there should be full judicial scrutiny of what is withheld.

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Jim Anderson can be reached at 906-774-2772, ext. 85226, or janderson@ironmountaindailynews.com.