Man charged with murder in cold case

Prosecutors are charging an Abrams man with murder, 15 years to the day that a shooting victim's body was found in Oconto County.

21-year-old Chad McLean of Green Bay went missing in late February of 1998, and investigators accuse 52-year-old Pete Hanson of killing him, and dumping McLean's body in the Pensaukee River.

Special prosecutor Vince Biskupic says there wasn't one specific thing that helped them crack the cold case. He says they closed a 15-month John Doe investigation, earlier this week.

McLean disappeared after he went to the Abrams area with a friend, and they were drinking at the trailer home of the friend's uncle. Court records say Hanson and another man were there, and the man was going to drive McLean back to Green Bay.

Prosecutors believe Hanson shot McLean, outside of Hanson's home, near Abrams.

Biskupic says detectives are committed to cold cases.

Court records say Hanson's wife told investigators that Hanson was panicked on the night McLean was last seen, and she gave him bleach to clean blood off of his hands.

A friend of Hanson testified that Hanson admitted shooting McLean, and his friend helped get rid of the body.

Biskupic says they believe a second person was involved, and they're still working on the case.

(Pictured: Pete Hanson, upper right; Chad McLean, lower left.)