From left to right, Chelsea Bruck, Julia Niswender, Kassie Bruck (now Rinne) and Jennifer Niswender.
To some, Jennifer Nisewender and Kassandra Bruck seem to have the same pain with eerily similar circumstances.
Both women have lost a sister, but that is where the similarities end.
Jennifer Niswender is the sister of Julia Niswender, an EMU student who was found dead from asphyxiation in the bathtub of her apartment in Ypsilanti on Dec 11, 2012.
It took months for the Ypsilanti police department to declare the incident a homicide.
Both Julia and Jennifer Niswender attended MCCC.
Kassandra Bruck is the sister of Chelsea Bruck.
Chelsea has been missing since she left a Halloween party on Post Road in Newport last fall.
Police have been searching for any sign of her since the party in the early hours of the morning on Oct. 26, and her body was found on Apr. 24 on Briar Hill Road in Ash Township.
The police have a sketch of an unnamed man who was believed to be with Chelsea before she vanished.
Chelsea Bruck was enrolled at MCCC, but there are no records of her completing a class.
Niswender says that Kassandra Bruck supported her when Julia passed, and now Niswender helps support Bruck.
“Of course, when this all happened I wanted to be right there by her side, just like she was for me,” Niswender said.
Regardless of the spread of rumors, Niswender said that she does not think that there is any connection between her sister’s case, and Chelsea Bruck.
“I don’t think that there’s any connection whatsoever, and I know people are out there saying that, ‘well maybe there was a connection.’ These people trying to be their own detective, they need to quit spreading rumors and let the investigators do their job,” Niswender said.
Two people have been arrested for giving false tips to the police in the Chelsea Bruck case.
“People don’t realize that you can get in trouble for false tips and making up stories,” Niswender said.
Legal action can be taken against you if you give false tips to the police, she said.
Lying to a police officer is a high misdemeanor in Michigan, and can result in the person being imprisoned for up to two years.
“It’s important that if you know something to tell somebody, be smart about it, and don’t make up lies,” Niswender said.
The Bruck family made similar statements in a press conference on April 8 outside their headquarters in Newport.
“If you see the police, whether it’s our case or somebody else’s, please remember to be respectful,” Chelsea’s mother, Leanna Bruck stated. “They need their space, and they need to do their jobs.”
Some rumors have started about Niswender’s stepfather, who is a person of interest in the Julia Niswender case, having something to do with Chelsea Bruck.
Niswender doesn’t think her step-father had anything to do with the Chelsea Bruck or Julia Niswender cases.
Niswender said that she had to delete her Facebook for a short while because of comments made to her about supporting her dad.
She said that she even received death threats because she supports her dad 100 percent.
“There was this one comment, ‘Oh, maybe he had something to do with the Nevaeh case, too,’ ” She said.
Niswender also said that she wants people to know about and keep talking about her sister’s case, because someone may know something.
“It’s been almost two and a half years, and we’re not going to give up,” Niswender said.
The Brucks also have said they will not give up in their search for Chelsea.
Despite some tips being only rumors, one tip did lead to the finding of what is thought to be a piece of Chelsea’s costume.
Niswender said that the police think it is part of Chelsea’s costume, but they are running DNA tests to be sure, and the DNA tests haven’t come back yet.
“This new evidence that they have, a little bit of hope; it’s something," she said.
