Woman Charged in Cold Case Death of Her Granddaughter

Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton has announced charges against a Flint woman in the nearly fifteen-year-old cold case death of her granddaughter.

Lois Arlene Janish, 74, is charged with open murder related to the 1998 disappearance of her granddaughter, Coral Hall, age 14. According to the cold case investigation led by the Flint Police Department, Hall was last seen or heard from on September 22, 1998.

According to the investigation, on that date, Hall had allegedly called a friend to see if she could stay at her friend's home. That friend said the two were to meet at a pre-arranged location but Hall never showed up. Another childhood friend of Hall's made a similar statement that she had been called also around that time and Hall had said she was fighting with her grandmother and wanted to come over to stay at that friend's house. The second friend also said Hall never arrived. Other friends told investigators that around that time in September 1998, Hall was never seen or heard from by any of them again.

Hall had been living with her grandmother and grandmother's boyfriend on Ann Arbor Street in Flint at the time of her disappearance. The boyfriend has since died. Hall's body has never been found and nobody has reported seeing or hearing from her since that time.

Janish has been arrested and is in custody. She is expected to be arraigned in 68th District Court.