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A Detroit Free Press clip shows Todd Nurnberger, Tina’s friend Aimee

Vermeersch, and Bill Biggar attending a vigil

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She was 23 years old and studying psychology at Oakland University when she went missing on Aug. 24. She had moved in with her boyfriend, Tom Nurnberger, just a few days prior. He said she had poor eyesight, and he suspected foul play upon realizing her glasses were left at home before her disappearance.

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“I think that she is dead or that she is kidnapped,” said Julie Biggar, Tina’s sister. “I keep thinking ‘Silence of the Lambs.'”

The last reported sighting of Biggar was Aug. 23, by an individual who claimed she was with a man named Ken Tranchida, an ex-con whom she befriended.

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“As far as we know, (Tranchida) was the last person seen with her, but he’s not charged with anything so we can’t restrict him in any way,” said Sgt. Doug Anderson of the Farmington Hills Police.

What made her disappearance all the more worrying was that she was part of a research group studying the AIDS epidemic in female sex workers.

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She was one of eight students at Oakland working on interviewing women about their knowledge of the HIV virus and AIDS. Then, Wayne State University students would have the sex workers go through an education program on HIV and AIDS, after which the OU students would follow up and analyze the subjects’ retention of the information. 

The subjects were all in jail for their engagement in sex work, and the Dickerson Detention Center in Hamtramck had personnel constantly supervising the students.

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“[Biggar] put her all in this study,” said Aimee VerMeersch, Biggar’s good friend and co-worker.

Following The Oakland Post’s coverage, major news outlets in Metro Detroit came out and wrote follow-ups, and many of these reports speculated that Biggar had been involved with the sex worker population.

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One day before her disappearance, Biggar had filed an application for permission to conduct a study titled “Survey of sexual history and health practices among women employed as escorts.” Professors Alega Harrison and Robert Stewart were listed as faculty sponsors, though Stewart never signed the document.

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There was at least three alleged sightings of Biggar in Windsor, and a warrant was put out for Tranchida’s arrest.

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Drifter Charged in Slaying of Woman Doing Research on Prostitutes

YURI KAGEYAMA September 29, 1995

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SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (AP) _ A drifter accused of killing a college student he met through her research project on prostitution told police he wanted ``to put her out of her misery″ from mounting money troubles.

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At his arraignment Thursday, Kenneth Tranchida declared, ``I’m guilty.″ But no plea was entered, and Judge Stephen Cooper urged him to speak to a lawyer. Tranchida, 41, was jailed without bail after he was arrested Tuesday and charged with first-degree murder. He could get life in prison without parole if convicted.

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Tina Biggar, a 23-year-old undergraduate psychology student at Oakland University in Michigan, was working on a research project on prostitutes and AIDS when she disappeared on Aug. 23. The project was funded by the government’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Her body was found Sept. 21 in the Detroit suburb of Southfield, behind a house where one of Tranchida’s relatives once lived, police said.

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Biggar’s car was found in Tranchida’s possession, police said, and tests found her blood in the trunk. An autopsy showed she died of blows to the head and neck.

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Authorities believe she was killed the day she disappeared.

 

``The one reason he gave was that she was complaining about her financial woes,″ Assistant Prosecutor Gary Tunis said. ``She needed money, so he wanted to put her out of her misery.″

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Police said Biggar had interviewed prostitutes in prison and on the streets for the project and had gone to work for an escort service, where she met Tranchida, who was a customer.

 

William Dwyer, the police chief in Farmington Hills, where Biggar lived, wouldn’t say what Biggar did at the service or elaborate on the nature of her relationship with Tranchida. He has served time for breaking and entering and was a habitual criminal.

 

Biggar had transferred to Oakland University from South Dakota State University to be closer to her parents. Her father is commander of the Coast Guard’s Traverse City station.