Tammy Zywicki Coverage

Datestamp: 08/27/1992
Students take up the search for classmate As

Illinois police continued to look for a Grinnell
College student who disappeared Sunday
afternoon, friends and fellow students took to the
road Wednesday to help with the search.
"We all knew something had happened to Tammy," said Nyasha Spears, a friend of Tammy Zywicki, 21,
who was last seen on Zywicki Missing the shoulder of westbound Interstate Highway 80 near Utica, Ill. "But
no one said, `Something has happened to Tammy and we can do something about it.' " News of her
disappearance reached Grinnell students and faculty Tuesday.
"Everyone was shocked just knowing a college student had been abducted," said Michael Ison, a Grinnell
senior and friend of Zywicki. "But when they found out who it was, it was just absolute disbelief."
About 50 students gathered Wednesday afternoon to organize their own search party for Zywicki, a senior
studying Spanish. Seventeen of them volunteered to drive around Iowa and neighboring states to put up
posters of Zywicki, Spears said.
Others who did not even know her also have asked to help, said Mark Couch, Grinnell College spokesman.
"We just had a student stop by and pick up 75 copies of the missing persons photo here," he said. "She didn't
know her, but she wanted to spread them around town."
The Illinois State Police said Zywicki was driving from her hometown of Marlton, N.J., to Grinnell and was
last seen looking under the hood of her car alongside the road. Her car was found a few hours later, with no
indication of foul play.
Zywicki had last talked to her brother Daren, 19, Sunday afternoon in Evanston, Ill., where he attends
Northwestern University, authorities said. She was supposed to arrive in Grinnell later that night.
Students take up the search for classmate As Illinois police continued to look for a Grinnell College student who disappeared Sunday afternoon, friends and fellow students took to the road Wednesday to help with the search. 1
Fear mounts as search widens for missing
Grinnell student Optimism slowly turned to dread
Friday as college students in Iowa, Illinois and
Georgia expanded the fiveday search for Grinnell
College student Tammy Zywicki.
Zywicki, 21, was headed to Grinnell on Sunday when she apparently had trouble with her white 1985 Pontiac
T1000 which resembles a Chevette on Interstate Highway 80 in a rural area near Utica, Ill. "We've
got two planes and one helicopter in the air. Groups of students from Northwestern (University) and Grinnell
College are putting up posters we made for them," said Trooper Jeff Hanford of the Illinois State Police.
The air search will extend from Iowa through Illinois to Indiana, because authorities are unsure which
direction Zywicki may have walked to get help, he said. She was about a mile from the nearest exit.
Authorities are following leads, but have no suspects, Hanford said. They've confirmed that Zywicki was
seen looking under her car hood about 3:20 p.m. Sunday.
"The nervousness has turned to fear now, as the time has gone on. You can see it in the students' faces," said
Andy Hamilton, 29, sports information director.
Zywicki, who worked for Hamilton as a photographer, planned to stay two weeks at Grinnell before heading
to Chicago for a semester of arts study in Chicago, he said.
Young men and women at the liberal arts college of about 1,250 are working tirelessly. With contributions
from local businesses, alumni, students and the school, students are mailing flyers to churches, police
agencies, friends and relatives.
"Even the new students are getting involved," said Rina Patrick, 25, Zywicki's former residence hall director.
"We're trying to keep people full of hope, but a lot of people are very scared now."
Patrick took a carload of Zywicki's friends and drove through northwest Iowa, while other Grinnell students
targeted other regions. They distributed flyers to truckers and residents statewide.
Fear mounts as search widens for missing Grinnell student Optimism slowly turned to dread Friday as college students in Iowa, Illinois and Georgia expanded the fiveday search for Grinnell College student Tammy Zywicki. 1
Zywicki left her home in Marlton, N.J., with her brother. He told police the car overheated twice between
Pittsburgh and Evanston. She dropped him off at Northwestern University Sunday afternoon. The car was
found locked and secure on the shoulder of the highway in an area sandwiched by farm fields, police said.
Zywicki's parents and three brothers are staying at the homes of Grinnell graduates in Chicago and the
Chicago suburb of Oak Park, about 90 minutes from where Zywicki's car was found, while they work with
authorities.
WHERE TO CALL Anyone with information on Tammy Zywicki should call Illinois State Police at
8152241150.
Tammy Zywicki Apparently had car trouble
Fear mounts as search widens for missing Grinnell student Optimism slowly turned to dread Friday as college students in Iowa, Illinois and Georgia expanded the fiveday search for Grinnell College student Tammy Zywicki. 2
Students take up the search for classmate As
Illinois police continued to look for a Grinnell
College student who disappeared Sunday
afternoon, friends and fellow students took to the
road Wednesday to help with the search.
"We all knew something had happened to Tammy," said Nyasha Spears, a friend of Tammy Zywicki, 21,
who was last seen on Zywicki Missing the shoulder of westbound Interstate Highway 80 near Utica, Ill. "But
no one said, `Something has happened to Tammy and we can do something about it.' " News of her
disappearance reached Grinnell students and faculty Tuesday.
"Everyone was shocked just knowing a college student had been abducted," said Michael Ison, a Grinnell
senior and friend of Zywicki. "But when they found out who it was, it was just absolute disbelief."
About 50 students gathered Wednesday afternoon to organize their own search party for Zywicki, a senior
studying Spanish. Seventeen of them volunteered to drive around Iowa and neighboring states to put up
posters of Zywicki, Spears said.
Others who did not even know her also have asked to help, said Mark Couch, Grinnell College spokesman.
"We just had a student stop by and pick up 75 copies of the missing persons photo here," he said. "She didn't
know her, but she wanted to spread them around town."
The Illinois State Police said Zywicki was driving from her hometown of Marlton, N.J., to Grinnell and was
last seen looking under the hood of her car alongside the road. Her car was found a few hours later, with no
indication of foul play.
Zywicki had last talked to her brother Daren, 19, Sunday afternoon in Evanston, Ill., where he attends
Northwestern University, authorities said. She was supposed to arrive in Grinnell later that night.
Students take up the search for classmate As Illinois police continued to look for a Grinnell College student who disappeared Sunday afternoon, friends and fellow students took to the road Wednesday to help with the search. 3
Trucker offers tip on student A Des Moines man
thinks he saw a woman on I80 who subsequently
disappeared. A Des Moines truck driver thinks he
may have met the man who picked up missing
Grinnell College student Tammy Zywicki.
On Sunday, Robert Bullington's story was one of dozens the Illinois State Police planned to follow; it was
one more lead in the mystery. Zywicki's friend, Jennifer Dowd, said she remained optimistic but "there has
been nothing that has offered a breakthrough in the case." Zywicki, 21, of Marlton, N.J., disappeared just
more than a week ago while en route to Grinnell from the Chicago area. Her abandoned car was found along
Interstate Highway 80 in Illinois.
Nebraska Plates
Bullington, 25, of 1300 E. Sheridan Ave. said he watched a young woman climb into a gray Chevrolet
Celebrity with Nebraska license plates about 1 a.m. Aug. 24.
Sgt. Joe Bernardoni of the Illinois State Police said the investigation was focusing on what happened on the
afternoon of Aug. 23. Reports of a semitrailer truck in the area at that time keep cropping up. Witnesses have
told officials they saw a woman standing by a car in the same location on Sunday afternoon.
Bernardoni said he didn't think Zywicki went back to the car after officers had tagged it that afternoon. But he
said investigators aren't ruling anything out.
Friends and relatives of Zywicki said Sunday night that a development in the case may be announced as soon
as today. They said they had no details.
Bullington said he was almost sure he'd seen her. "I don't know when she broke down," he said. "I do know
there was a young blond woman standing there when I went by and I saw her get into a car with a guy I had
been talking to on the CB."
Bullington said he earlier had coffee with the man, who picked up the woman near the Peru exit of Interstate
Highway 80.
Trucker offers tip on student A Des Moines man thinks he saw a woman on I80 who subsequently disappeared. A Des Moines truck driver thinks he may have met the man who picked up missing Grinnell College student Tammy Zywicki. 1
Stopped for Coffee
He had been to North Carolina to pick up a load of meat. On Aug. 23 he was traveling to Utah to deliver the
shipment. Bullington said he struck up a citizen's band radio conversation with a Nebraska man who said his
name was Jerry.
They had coffee at a restaurant in Indiana, then continued their conversation over the radio.
Bullington said, "About 1 a.m. the next morning (Monday, Aug. 24) we went by this car. I could see her
blond hair."
Bullington stopped his truck about 1,000 to 1,500 feet down the road. But the other man stopped his
Chevrolet just in front of the stalled car.
"Looked Confused"
"The girl looked confused. She looked sort of dumbfounded," said Bullington.
The man Bullington knew only as Jerry came on the CB radio and said something like, "Yeah, she had
trouble with her car."
Bullington drove on, and a short distance down the road, he saw the car leave the road.
He said he didn't think about the event again until he came home to Des Moines Saturday.
Missing College Woman
"My wife told me about the missing girl," he said. "I know they say someone saw her standing by that car
Sunday afternoon. But I think she's the one I saw (hours later)."
He added, "I wish I would have gone back. I could have taken control of the situation. Now I'm having
trouble sleeping and eating. It's really starting to bother me. When it's a girl I always stop in a heartbeat. But
this time he stopped quicker than I could."
Tammy Zywicki;Seen by truck driver?
Truck driver sought in missing student case
Callers say they saw semi near her car With a plea
for help from the public, the Illinois State Police
and the FBI released a composite Monday of a
semitrailer truck reportedly seen parked near the
car of a missing Grinnell College student.
The nationwide search for Tammy Zywicki, missing since Aug. 23, continued to grow as officials released
their first solid lead in an investigation of the possible kidnapping of the student. Zywicki, 21, and her brother
had driven together from Marlton, N.J., to Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. She dropped him off and
headed to Grinnell. Her car was found along Interstate Highway 80 near Utica, Ill.
Several callers have reported seeing a fiveaxle semitrailer truck, white in color with two brownishcolored
stripes on both the tractor and the trailer. Investigators with the FBI and the Illinois State Police are trying to
locate the driver.
The driver is not a suspect, but may have information that could lead to Zywicki, said Lt. Harold Brignadello
of the Illinois State Police.
He said the new information should not discourage anyone from reporting even the slightest detail.
"This tractor may have been inthe vicinity and left, and someone else may have come along," he said. "These
callers were passersby. They're recalling something they observed for two to three seconds and that's it. We
want all information forwarded."
The FBI is actively investigating the disappearance under the federal statutes regarding kidnapping, said
agent Tom Noble of the Chicago division.
Grinnell students continue working to find their classmate, and they're setting up a fund to pay for costs of the
search.
Students also are signing up for a Food of Grinnell Fast, where students will forgo their Friday night supper
Truck driver sought in missing student case Callers say they saw semi near her car With a plea for help from the public, the Illinois State Police and the FBI released a composite Monday of a semitrailer truck reportedly seen parked near the car of a missing Grinnell College student. 1
and use the money for the search, said Nyasha Spears, a Grinnell junior from Bismarck, N.D.
"We have to keep working," she said. "Every day, we wake up and expect her to be found during the day. But
we have to keep planning a few days in advance. I think everyone is scared, but if you don't keep a positive
outlook, you won't get any work done."
Spears said she tries to focus on the positive, hoping Zywicki will return soon.
"Thinking about other options only depresses me and wastes energy that I could be using to help bring her
home safely," she said.
"I haven't done any homework yet. People are rotating their priorities, spending less time on social events.
People are not sleeping as much."
Truck driver sought in missing student case Callers say they saw semi near her car With a plea for help from the public, the Illinois State Police and the FBI released a composite Monday of a semitrailer truck reportedly seen parked near the car of a missing Grinnell College student. 2
Woman's body is found in Missouri Clothing the
victim was wearing has links to Tammy Zywicki
The young woman matches a description
except for hair color of the missing Grinnell
College student. The nationwide search for a
Grinnell College student took a worrisome turn
Tuesday when the body of a young woman
matching her age, height and weight was
discovered along Interstate Highway 44 about 40
miles west of Springfield, Mo.
Investigators said late Tuesday they could not confirm whether the young woman was Tammy Zywicki. The
body, found about 11 a.m. Tuesday in a ditch, wore a Tshirt that said "Eastside Eagles Soccer 1989," said
Sgt. Matt Brown of the Missouri Highway Patrol in Springfield, Mo. The young woman, stabbed in the chest,
was found wrapped in a blanket, said Brown.
Soccer Player
Zywicki, a 1989 graduate of Eastside High School in Greenville, S.C., played soccer for the Eastside Eagles,
said Toby Moore, a reporter for the Greenville News.
Wording on the woman's shorts, "GCRC division champs" and "GCRC Soccer, County Runnerups," match
those of the Greenville County Recreation Commission. Zywicki played in the commission league, Martha
Beckham, her high school coach, told Moore.
However, the clothing on the body did not match the outfit Zywicki reportedly was wearing when she
dropped her brother off at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., the day she disappeared.
Zywicki has long, blond hair. Authorities said the dead woman had auburn hair.
Woman's body is found in Missouri Clothing the victim was wearing has links to Tammy Zywicki The young woman matches a description except for hair color of the missing Grinnell College student. The nationwide search for a Grinnell College student took a worrisome turn Tuesday when the body of a young woman matching her age, height and weight was discovered along Interstate Highway 44 about 40 miles west of Springfield, Mo. 1
Car Found in Illinois
Investigators in Missouri notified Illinois authorities after the body was found. People throughout the country
have searched for Zywicki, 21, who disappeared Aug. 23 while traveling from her family's home in Marlton,
N.J., to Grinnell. Her car was found along Interstate Highway 80 near La Salle, Ill.
Officials said an autopsy was to be performed today.
Law enforcement authorities cautioned that at least three women are missing in southwest Missouri.
Grinnell students previously had planned a candlelight vigil at 6 a.m. today on campus. Afterward, they
planned to fan out around the state to distribute new fliers with a sketch of a semitrailer truck seen near
Zywicki's abandoned vehicle.
The State Street Station Company bar in Grinnell had scheduled a fundraiser tonight, with a $5 cover charge
used to pay for the Zywicki search, said Grinnell College spokesman Mark Couch.
National Search
A massive national search generated primarily by Zywicki's friends in Iowa, Georgia and Illinois has
been relentless.
Rena Patrick, a resident adviser at Grinnell College who has helped coordinate the search, said Tuesday night
that people were waiting for more news with a mix of hope and dread. Word that a body had been discovered
came during the 5:30 p.m. television news. When students gathered at the dining hall at 6 p.m., the new
developments spread.
"There were a lot of tears, I think. A lot of emotions. People don't know what to think and we're trying to
remain optimistic," said Patrick.
In interviews before word of the body's discovery, her brothers expressed hope.
"We've been calling trucking companies. And they're going to put pictures of the truck in some trucking
industry magazines," said Zywicki's brother, Dean, 25, a computer science student at Johns Hopkins
University in Baltimore. "Everybody kind of feels like we're getting toward the end of this, whatever the end
might be," he said early Tuesday.
Another brother, Todd Zywicki, 26, left to begin law school at the University of Virginia.
Dean Zywicki remained in Illinois, sleeping about four hours a night and thinking of his sister the rest of the
time. The graduate student missed registration.
"Everybody's got huge circles under their eyes, but they keep going," Dean Zywicki said.
His youngest brother, 19yearold Daren, was the last family member to see their sister.
Mechanical Problems
She dropped Daren off at Northwestern University. Twice the pair experienced mechanical problems between
Pittsburgh and Evanston, but the last five or six hours of the trip went smoothly.
It was a hot day. Daren Zywicki suggested that his sister leave later in the afternoon or early the next
morning, so the car, a white 1985 Pontiac T1000, could rest.
"She didn't foresee any problems," Daren Zywicki said.
Law enforcement officers now are trying to find a trucker described as a 6foottall white male, 30 to 45
years old, with collarlength, bushy, dark hair who may have talked to Tammy Zywicki. The man is not a
suspect. He was driving a white fiveaxle semitrailer truck, with two brownish stripes on both the tractor and
the trailer.
Zywicki's brothers said they can't understand why the trucker hasn't contacted either the FBI or the Illinois
State Police to help the investigation.
Tammy Zywicki Disappeared
TIPS Officials are pursuing all tips in Tammy Zywicki's disappearance. Call (815) 2241150 with
information.
Nebraska Plates
Highway 80.
Stopped for Coffee
name was Jerry.
blond hair."
"Looked Confused"
Police hint body is Zywicki's Police in Springfield,
Mo., were told Wednesday afternoon in a meeting
that the partly decomposed body of a woman
found this week in Missouri is that of a New Jersey
woman, a possible reference to Grinnell College
student Tammy Zywicki.
Authorities said they may formally identify the body today. The body roughly matches Zywicki's age, height
and weight. The 21yearold has been missing since Aug. 23, when she disappeared while traveling from her
parents' home in New Jersey to Grinnell College.
Stabbed Seven Times
An autopsy performed by a Columbia, Mo., pathologist failed to determine the hair color and eye color of the
woman found dead Tuesday in a ditch off Interstate Highway 44 about 40 miles west of Springfield. She had
been stabbed seven times in the chest and once in the right arm. Two wounds punctured a lung and one
wound punctured the liver.
Investigator Dana Carrington of the Springfield Police Department confirmed that the body is not one of
three missing Springfield women who disappeared June 7. He said his agency held its daily 4 p.m. meeting
on that case, and the finding of the body was discussed.
"They know who she is. They said it was a woman out of New Jersey," he said, adding that Zywicki's name
wasn't mentioned.
Don Lakin, coroner in Lawrence County, Mo., said the body is so decayed that eye color couldn't be
determined. Decay also disfigured the face, he said. High humidity speeded decomposition of the soft eye
tissue. And the hair color could have been affected by the dye of the wet red blanket in which the body was
wrapped, Lakin said.
Dental Records
Police hint body is Zywicki's Police in Springfield, Mo., were told Wednesday afternoon in a meeting that the partly decomposed body of a woman found this week in Missouri is that of a New Jersey woman, a possible reference to Grinnell College student Tammy Zywicki. 1
"It was badly decomposed," said Sgt. Matt Brown of the Missouri Highway Patrol in Springfield. "They're
waiting on dental records and a forensic expert in dental comparisons. Decomposition distorts the normal
appearance of the body so that normal recognition would be difficult. There's always that nth possibility it
could be someone else."
Early police reports said the unidentified woman had auburn hair. Zywicki has blond hair.
Lab results should provide further details. Lakin couldn't say whether the young woman had been sexually
assaulted. He said the woman appeared to have been dead five to seven days.
Relatives of Zywicki said they believed she was still alive.
Near La Salle
Her car broke down the afternoon of Aug. 23 after she left her brother at Northwestern University in
Evanston, Ill. She was headed to Grinnell from her parents' home in Marlton, N.J. Her car was found on the
side of Interstate Highway 80 near La Salle, Ill.
The FBI and law enforcement agencies in Iowa, Illinois and Missouri are working on the case. They're
searching for a semitrailer truck reportedly seen near Zywicki's vehicle the day she disappeared.
The corpse is muscular and tan, a Missouri official said. Zywicki, a rugby player and former varsity soccer
player at Grinnell, is 5 feet, 2 inches tall and 120 pounds. She and the dead woman are the same height and
weight.
The body was clad in a Tshirt with the name of Zywicki's high school soccer team, the Eastside Eagles,
which is in Taylors, S.C. She graduated in 1989 from the suburban Greenville high school. Also, the dead
woman was wearing shorts with initials that matched a Greenville soccer league in which Zywicki played.
Her brother Dean, 25, said Wednesday that the family is monitoring news reports.
"There have been enough discrepancies in the description," he said. "All the reports didn't have her wearing a
shirt like that. As for the shorts, I have no idea. Those initials could stand for anything. We're just hoping for
the best."
Dean Zywicki, a Johns Hopkins University student staying in the Chicago area with his younger brother
during the search, said his parents were in New Jersey awaiting word.
Police hint body is Zywicki's Police in Springfield, Mo., were told Wednesday afternoon in a meeting that the partly decomposed body of a woman found this week in Missouri is that of a New Jersey woman, a possible reference to Grinnell College student Tammy Zywicki. 2
Woman's body is found in Missouri Clothing the
victim was wearing has links to Tammy Zywicki
The young woman matches a description
except for hair color of the missing Grinnell
College student. The nationwide search for a
Grinnell College student took a worrisome turn
Tuesday when the body of a young woman
matching her age, height and weight was
discovered along Interstate Highway 44 about 40
miles west of Springfield, Mo.
Investigators said late Tuesday they could not confirm whether the young woman was Tammy Zywicki. The
body, found about 11 a.m. Tuesday in a ditch, wore a Tshirt that said "Eastside Eagles Soccer 1989," said
Sgt. Matt Brown of the Missouri Highway Patrol in Springfield, Mo. The young woman, stabbed in the chest,
was found wrapped in a blanket, said Brown.
Soccer Player
Zywicki, a 1989 graduate of Eastside High School in Greenville, S.C., played soccer for the Eastside Eagles,
said Toby Moore, a reporter for the Greenville News.
Wording on the woman's shorts, "GCRC division champs" and "GCRC Soccer, County Runnerups," match
those of the Greenville County Recreation Commission. Zywicki played in the commission league, Martha
Beckham, her high school coach, told Moore.
However, the clothing on the body did not match the outfit Zywicki reportedly was wearing when she
dropped her brother off at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., the day she disappeared.
Zywicki has long, blond hair. Authorities said the dead woman had auburn hair.
Car Found in Illinois
Investigators in Missouri notified Illinois authorities after the body was found. People throughout the country
have searched for Zywicki, 21, who disappeared Aug. 23 while traveling from her family's home in Marlton,
N.J., to Grinnell. Her car was found along Interstate Highway 80 near La Salle, Ill.
Officials said an autopsy was to be performed today.
Law enforcement authorities cautioned that at least three women are missing in southwest Missouri.
Grinnell students previously had planned a candlelight vigil at 6 a.m. today on campus. Afterward, they
planned to fan out around the state to distribute new fliers with a sketch of a semitrailer truck seen near
Zywicki's abandoned vehicle.
The State Street Station Company bar in Grinnell had scheduled a fundraiser tonight, with a $5 cover charge
used to pay for the Zywicki search, said Grinnell College spokesman Mark Couch.
National Search
A massive national search generated primarily by Zywicki's friends in Iowa, Georgia and Illinois has
been relentless.
Rena Patrick, a resident adviser at Grinnell College who has helped coordinate the search, said Tuesday night
that people were waiting for more news with a mix of hope and dread. Word that a body had been discovered
came during the 5:30 p.m. television news. When students gathered at the dining hall at 6 p.m., the new
developments spread.
"There were a lot of tears, I think. A lot of emotions. People don't know what to think and we're trying to
remain optimistic," said Patrick.
In interviews before word of the body's discovery, her brothers expressed hope.
"We've been calling trucking companies. And they're going to put pictures of the truck in some trucking
industry magazines," said Zywicki's brother, Dean, 25, a computer science student at Johns Hopkins
University in Baltimore. "Everybody kind of feels like we're getting toward the end of this, whatever the end
might be," he said early Tuesday.
Another brother, Todd Zywicki, 26, left to begin law school at the University of Virginia.
Dean Zywicki remained in Illinois, sleeping about four hours a night and thinking of his sister the rest of the
time. The graduate student missed registration.
"Everybody's got huge circles under their eyes, but they keep going," Dean Zywicki said.
His youngest brother, 19yearold Daren, was the last family member to see their sister.
Mechanical Problems
She dropped Daren off at Northwestern University. Twice the pair experienced mechanical problems between
Pittsburgh and Evanston, but the last five or six hours of the trip went smoothly.
It was a hot day. Daren Zywicki suggested that his sister leave later in the afternoon or early the next
morning, so the car, a white 1985 Pontiac T1000, could rest.
"She didn't foresee any problems," Daren Zywicki said.
Law enforcement officers now are trying to find a trucker described as a 6foottall white male, 30 to 45
years old, with collarlength, bushy, dark hair who may have talked to Tammy Zywicki. The man is not a
suspect. He was driving a white fiveaxle semitrailer truck, with two brownish stripes on both the tractor and
the trailer.
Zywicki's brothers said they can't understand why the trucker hasn't contacted either the FBI or the Illinois
State Police to help the investigation.
Tammy Zywicki Disappeared
TIPS Officials are pursuing all tips in Tammy Zywicki's disappearance. Call (815) 2241150 with
information.
Nebraska Plates
Highway 80.
Stopped for Coffee
name was Jerry.
blond hair."
"Looked Confused"
Search on for Zywicki's killer Officials are working
under the assumption that the Grinnell student
was slain by a truck driver. A nationwide search
continued Thursday for the person who fatally
stabbed Grinnell College student Tammy Zywicki
and left her body in a mummylike wrapping at a
lonely Missouri interstate highway entrance ramp.
Police said the murderer may have been a truck driver. A coroner confirmed the identity of the shoeless but
fully clothed body of the 21yearold woman at midday Thursday.
"I don't want to give out much information, because we're going to catch the bastard that done it," said
Lawrence County Coroner Don Lakin in Pierce City, Mo.
Lakin said Zywicki was in casual clothes, apparently not the same clothing she was last seen wearing. He
declined to say, however, whether the multiple stab wounds to the chest that caused her death had been made
through her clothing or whether there were signs of a sexual assault.
He said several routine tests are being performed to determine whether samples from the body can help
identify an assailant.
Dental Records
The identification of the remains, made possible by matching five cavities with Zywicki's dental records, has
allowed investigators to focus on a killer.
"We're working on the assumption it was a truck driver, but that is subject to change," said FBI spokesman
Ross Rice in Chicago. "We don't have anything definite on that."
A truck driver surfaced early in the investigation when passing motorists said they saw Zywicki talking to a
6foot white man, 30 to 45, with collarlength, bushy dark hair. Witnesses say he had left his fiveaxle truck
Search on for Zywicki's killer Officials are working under the assumption that the Grinnell student was slain by a truck driver. A nationwide search continued Thursday for the person who fatally stabbed Grinnell College student Tammy Zywicki and left her body in a mummylike wrapping at a lonely Missouri interstate highway entrance ramp. 1
near Zywicki's disabled 1985 Pontiac Aug. 23 on the Interstate Highway 80 shoulder near LaSalle, Ill.
"There is no evidence that the driver was involved in the abduction and killing of Miss Zywicki," said Lt.
Doug Seneker, chief of Lawrence County, Mo., sheriff's detectives. "But he appears to have been one of the
last persons to see her alive."
Zywicki was returning to Grinnell College from her family's home in Marlton, N.J.
Illinois state police said that witnesses saw the car with its hood up about 3:20 p.m. the day Zywicki was
stranded. When an officer went to place a sticker on the car, the hood was down and the car locked.
Said Illinois State Trooper Jeff Hanford in LaSalle, "It looks like she walked away from the scene or took a
ride. There were no signs of a struggle."
New Credibility
The truck driver theory gained new credibility when Missouri troopers learned more about the Interstate
Highway 44 interchange 33 miles east of the Oklahoma border, where the body was found Tuesday. Lakin,
the coroner, said the body may have been there up to seven days.
"A lot of truckers pull off to get some sleep or stay there overnight," said Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt.
Tom Martin.
"We're confident the victim was killed somewhere else and dumped there. It was about 14 feet off the road on
the down ramp to the westbound lane. Whoever put the body there was in a hurry," said Martin.
There was no attempt at a burial, he said. Martin said disturbed tall grass indicated that the body had been
carried or dragged to the spot.
Wrapped in a white cotton sheet, then a dark red blanket that was taped at the open ends, the body "was
packaged, so to speak," Martin said.
"There were no markings on the sheet or blanket. They were from a fullsize bed and could be from a motel
or a sleeper on a truck or from a residence or several other possibilities," he said.
Checking Records
Troopers were checking truck weigh station records to determine whether rigs matching the description of the
truck seen in Illinois had passed through Missouri in recent days, said Martin.
Investigators combed the site with metal detectors but found no weapons.
The FBI's Rice said the agency has been sorting through scores of leads, many of them prodded by pleas for
information from the Zywicki family, Grinnell students and friends.
The truck being sought has been described as a fiveaxle semitrailer truck with a white background and
brownish diagonal stripes across the cab and trailer.
Illinois trooper Hanford said the outpouring of leads "may pay off."
"There are several ideas that we're following up on. We're trying to confirm information, and it's a tedious
job," he said.
Family's Statement
Zywicki's family in New Jersey released a brief statement saying they were saddened that the body had been
positively identified. They also said they were grateful for the many people who helped in the search.
"We feel as much anger as sorrow at the realization of the brutal and dehumanizing conduct that occurred.
We hope that some good can come out of this, including the capture of the person responsible. We don't want
them to be able to kill again," the statement said.
Zywicki was on her way to Grinnell College after leaving her brother at Northwestern University in
Evanston, Ill., where he is a student.
"She was a caring and friendly individual. I call her my princess," said her father, Hank Zywicki. "She loved
people."
ZYWICKI FUND Friends of Tammy Zywicki said Thursday a fund has been established at Grinnell College
to cover costs of searching for Tammy's slayer. The address: Search for Tammy, Grinnell College, Grinnell,
Ia. 50112.
Hank and JoAnne Zywicki speak with reporters in front of their Marlton, N.J., home Thursday shortly before
learning that the body of a young woman found along a Missouri highway was identified as that of their
daughter, Tammy Zywicki.
FBI: Case won't be an easy one to solve Officials
sift through hundreds of leads in Tammy Zywicki's
slaying. Investigators in several states Friday were
sorting through hundreds of leads that describe
trucks similar to the vehicle reportedly seen near
Tammy Zywicki's disabled car.
The information, some of it called in by motorists on the road using cellular phones, failed to point police
toward Zywicki's killer. Troopers in several states, including Iowa, pulled over more than three dozen trucks
that appeared to meet the description, a spokesman for the Illinois State Police in Springfield said.
"Sadly, it's not going to be an easy thing to solve," FBI spokesman Robert Long in Chicago said of Zywicki's
slaying.
The body of the 21yearold Grinnell College student was found Tuesday on a grassy slope at an Interstate
Highway 44 interchange in Missouri, 33 miles east of Oklahoma. She had been stabbed several times in the
chest.
Zywicki was traveling from her Marlton, N.J., home to Grinnell when her car broke down on Interstate
Highway 80 near La Salle, Ill. One witness, a mechanic in the La Salle area, said he saw the woman talking
to a man standing near a semitrailer truck.
The witness, whom authorities have declined to identify, said the fiveaxle semitrailer truck had a white
background and brownish diagonal stripes across the cab and trailer. A company logo was juxtaposed across
both sets of stripes, but the witness could not remember the logo.
In an unusual move, the FBI asked the television program, "America's Most Wanted," to broadcast a
30second description of the mysterious truck Friday night. A Fox Network spokesman said several FBI
agents were on hand to receive tips generated by the program.
The unsolved stabbing left some stranded motorists uneasy on the road, including one woman in Iowa.
FBI: Case won't be an easy one to solve Officials sift through hundreds of leads in Tammy Zywicki's slaying. Investigators in several states Friday were sorting through hundreds of leads that describe trucks similar to the vehicle reportedly seen near Tammy Zywicki's disabled car. 1
Iowa State Patrol Sgt. Frank Fisher said a wellintentioned man who rolled up to a disabled car Thursday on
Interstate Highway 35 south of Des Moines was rebuffed by the female occupant.
"She didn't even roll down her window to talk to him. She just sat in the car like a mummy," Fisher said.
The man drove to the next exit and called authorities. A state trooper was dispatched to assist the woman,
Fisher said.
"There is paranoia out there," said Fisher. "But for the most part, there are still super people who are willing
to break their backs and help."
Authorities have declined to say whether Zywicki's purse, car keys and a camera were recovered. The items
were missing from her locked car.
Wrapped in Blanket
When her body, wrapped in a sheet and blanket, was found in Missouri, police did not say the items had been
recovered.
"We don't know whether she was offered a ride someplace and she got into a car or a truck and went there.
Maybe once she got to another location there was foul play. The problem is we just don't know," said the
FBI's Long.
Investigators continue to rely upon the mechanic's description of the semitrailer truck. They point out that the
driver being sought isn't a suspect and that they only want to talk to him.
The man who described the truck "is very credible," said Master Sgt. Charles Schwarting of the Illinois State
Police.
"He was very descriptive, very clear, very concise in providing information on the truck," said Schwarting.
The killing has prodded truckingindustry officials to counter publicity they say has reflected badly on the
business.
"We're getting hammered in the paper," said Scott Weiser, president of the Iowa Motor Truck Association in
Des Moines. "Our information is that there is nothing other than one witness who said he may have seen a
truck near the accident scene. No truck drivers have been implicated.
"If they are involved, this industry will do whatever it takes to find this person. No stone will be unturned on
this," he said.
"Isolated Incident"
Added Weiser, "This is an extremely rare, isolated incident. You can't be afraid to go out on the highway."
Long said agents have been getting significant support from truckers.
"One of our biggest sources of information has been truck drivers. They have been extremely cooperative.
Maybe something they'll dig up will lead to a solution," he said.
Retha Barnard, cashier at the Bosselman Hartner truck stop at Altoona, said Zywicki's killing "has been
talked about all the time here."
"The truckers talk about what might have happened and what could be done. They say truck drivers are
getting a bad name because of it," she said.
Pat Milligan of Milligan Bros. Transport Co. in Baxter is offering a $5,000 reward for the arrest and
conviction of the killer.
"We'd like to see this situation cleaned up whether it's a trucker or not. We don't want the thousands of people
out there fearing the trucking industry," said Milligan.
Des Moines restaurateur Alphonse "Babe" Bisignano also offered a $5,000 reward.
GARY FANDEL/T R Truck driver Mike Hanthorn of Lafayette, Ind., looks at a flyer showing the semitrailer
truck that was seen near where Tammy Zywicki disappeared in Illinois. The sign was posted at the
Bosselman Hartner truck stop near Interstate Highway 80 and Hubbell Avenue near Des Moines.
Search on for Zywicki's killer Officials are working
under the assumption that the Grinnell student
was slain by a truck driver. A nationwide search
continued Thursday for the person who fatally
stabbed Grinnell College student Tammy Zywicki
and left her body in a mummylike wrapping at a
lonely Missouri interstate highway entrance ramp.
Police said the murderer may have been a truck driver. A coroner confirmed the identity of the shoeless but
fully clothed body of the 21yearold woman at midday Thursday.
"I don't want to give out much information, because we're going to catch the bastard that done it," said
Lawrence County Coroner Don Lakin in Pierce City, Mo.
Lakin said Zywicki was in casual clothes, apparently not the same clothing she was last seen wearing. He
declined to say, however, whether the multiple stab wounds to the chest that caused her death had been made
through her clothing or whether there were signs of a sexual assault.
He said several routine tests are being performed to determine whether samples from the body can help
identify an assailant.
Dental Records
The identification of the remains, made possible by matching five cavities with Zywicki's dental records, has
allowed investigators to focus on a killer.
"We're working on the assumption it was a truck driver, but that is subject to change," said FBI spokesman
Ross Rice in Chicago. "We don't have anything definite on that."
A truck driver surfaced early in the investigation when passing motorists said they saw Zywicki talking to a
6foot white man, 30 to 45, with collarlength, bushy dark hair. Witnesses say he had left his fiveaxle truck
near Zywicki's disabled 1985 Pontiac Aug. 23 on the Interstate Highway 80 shoulder near LaSalle, Ill.
"There is no evidence that the driver was involved in the abduction and killing of Miss Zywicki," said Lt.
Doug Seneker, chief of Lawrence County, Mo., sheriff's detectives. "But he appears to have been one of the
last persons to see her alive."
Zywicki was returning to Grinnell College from her family's home in Marlton, N.J.
Illinois state police said that witnesses saw the car with its hood up about 3:20 p.m. the day Zywicki was
stranded. When an officer went to place a sticker on the car, the hood was down and the car locked.
Said Illinois State Trooper Jeff Hanford in LaSalle, "It looks like she walked away from the scene or took a
ride. There were no signs of a struggle."
New Credibility
The truck driver theory gained new credibility when Missouri troopers learned more about the Interstate
Highway 44 interchange 33 miles east of the Oklahoma border, where the body was found Tuesday. Lakin,
the coroner, said the body may have been there up to seven days.
"A lot of truckers pull off to get some sleep or stay there overnight," said Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt.
Tom Martin.
"We're confident the victim was killed somewhere else and dumped there. It was about 14 feet off the road on
the down ramp to the westbound lane. Whoever put the body there was in a hurry," said Martin.
There was no attempt at a burial, he said. Martin said disturbed tall grass indicated that the body had been
carried or dragged to the spot.
Wrapped in a white cotton sheet, then a dark red blanket that was taped at the open ends, the body "was
packaged, so to speak," Martin said.
"There were no markings on the sheet or blanket. They were from a fullsize bed and could be from a motel
or a sleeper on a truck or from a residence or several other possibilities," he said.
Checking Records
Troopers were checking truck weigh station records to determine whether rigs matching the description of the
truck seen in Illinois had passed through Missouri in recent days, said Martin.
Investigators combed the site with metal detectors but found no weapons.
The FBI's Rice said the agency has been sorting through scores of leads, many of them prodded by pleas for
information from the Zywicki family, Grinnell students and friends.
The truck being sought has been described as a fiveaxle semitrailer truck with a white background and
brownish diagonal stripes across the cab and trailer.
Illinois trooper Hanford said the outpouring of leads "may pay off."
"There are several ideas that we're following up on. We're trying to confirm information, and it's a tedious
job," he said.
Family's Statement
Zywicki's family in New Jersey released a brief statement saying they were saddened that the body had been
positively identified. They also said they were grateful for the many people who helped in the search.
"We feel as much anger as sorrow at the realization of the brutal and dehumanizing conduct that occurred.
We hope that some good can come out of this, including the capture of the person responsible. We don't want
them to be able to kill again," the statement said.
Zywicki was on her way to Grinnell College after leaving her brother at Northwestern University in
Evanston, Ill., where he is a student.
"She was a caring and friendly individual. I call her my princess," said her father, Hank Zywicki. "She loved
people."
ZYWICKI FUND Friends of Tammy Zywicki said Thursday a fund has been established at Grinnell College
to cover costs of searching for Tammy's slayer. The address: Search for Tammy, Grinnell College, Grinnell,
Ia. 50112.
Hank and JoAnne Zywicki speak with reporters in front of their Marlton, N.J., home Thursday shortly before
learning that the body of a young woman found along a Missouri highway was identified as that of their
daughter, Tammy Zywicki.
Officials: No suspect yet in Zywicki case Man
charged in separate killing expected to be
interviewed Authorities Thursday dashed brief
hopes of a breakthrough in the search for Tammy
Zywicki's killer.
A 20yearold northeast Missouri man charged with killing a local woman was not a suspect in the stabbing
death of the Grinnell College student, they said. Authorities said the man, Paul Kreutzer, likely would be
interviewed to determine his whereabouts at the time Zywicki disappeared in Illinois, however.
Some reports said that officials searched the man's car and found newspaper clippings about Zywicki's fatal
stabbing and a roll of duct tape, the kind of tape that had been used to bind the body of the 21yearold
Zywicki.
Pike County, Mo., Sheriff James Wells confirmed that duct tape was found in the car, but a sheriff's deputy
said that he searched the car and found no newspaper clippings.
"Not a Suspect"
Robert Long, FBI spokesman in Chicago, noted that "Duct tape is common. . . . It would be great to wrap this
case up, but there isn't any way we can say we may be doing that.
"At this point he's not a suspect. We're looking at this along with a number of other leads we've gotten."
Kreutzer was arrested Sept. 2 in the beating death of Louise Ann Hemphill, 36, at her home near Louisiana,
Mo.
Wells spread word of the arrest to investigators in Illinois. The sheriff said the communication was a routine
"law enforcement technique."
"I don't think he's involved" with the Grinnell student's killing, said Wells.
Local authorities placed a blackout on information about the Louisiana case after Kreutzer, who lives near
Officials: No suspect yet in Zywicki case Man charged in separate killing expected to be interviewed Authorities Thursday dashed brief hopes of a breakthrough in the search for Tammy Zywicki's killer. 1
Clarksville, Mo., was charged with firstdegree murder.
"The family has made an appeal not to blow this into a major story. The victim was very private, and they are
a very good Christian family, and they aren't seeking publicity," said Wells.
Indecent Exposure
The sheriff described Kreutzer as unemployed and said he had been looking for work. Kreutzer had been
named in a warrant accusing him of indecent exposure near Columbia, Mo., he said.
Wells said after he notified Illinois investigators that they might want to talk to Kreutzer, they did not call
back.
"My feeling was that the Illinois sergeant I talked to didn't think he was a suspect. If he wanted to talk to
Paul, he knows where he is," said Wells.
Master Sgt. Charles Schwarting, spokesman for the Illinois patrol, said investigators had Kreutzer on their list
and likely will interview him.
Said Schwarting, "We will be attempting to determine his whereabouts at the time Tammy was missing."
Zywicki disappeared Aug. 23 after her car broke down on Interstate Highway 80 near La Salle, Ill. Her body
was found Sept. 1 near an entrance ramp on Interstate Highway 44 in Missouri some 33 miles east of the
Oklahoma border.
Her body was found wrapped in a sheet and blanket that had been bound with duct tape.
The FBI's Long said investigators continue to sort through hundreds of leads, many of them from truck
drivers. A witness said he saw Zywicki talking to a truck driver on the shoulder of the interstate before she
disappeared.
Grinnell men's and women's cross country track teams are collecting pledges for their runathon Saturday to
benefit the Tammy Zywicki fund. Pledges can be made by calling (515) 2693800.
Officials: No suspect yet in Zywicki case Man charged in separate killing expected to be interviewed Authorities Thursday dashed brief hopes of a breakthrough in the search for Tammy Zywicki's killer. 2
Mom asks whether trucker killed her daughter
FBI agents will seek links to a 1992 death after a man is arrested in Tennessee.
By TOM ALEX
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
JoAnn Zywicki logged onto the computer at her Florida home Friday, and gave a casual glance at the main
news item that popped up on her screen. She paused. It was about an alleged serial killer, a truck driver.
Bruce Mendenhall, 56, had been arrested in Nashville, Tenn., and had implicated himself in at least six
homicides, the report said. Zywicki studied it line by line, and began searching the Web for any other news
about Mendenhall, of Albion, Ill.
Fifteen years ago Zywicki's daughter, Tammy, was murdered as she drove back to college in Iowa.
Authorities said she'd been seen at the side of a highway in Illinois talking to a truck driver. Her body, which
had been stabbed repeatedly, was found in a ditch in Missouri.
"I think there's enough there to at least look into it," JoAnn Zywicki said Monday at the prospect that
Mendenhall may be her daughter's killer. "One of the articles I read about, it said they found one of the
victim's shoes. And you know, they never found Tammy's shoes."
The FBI in Chicago said agents plan to contact Nashville authorities to see if there is evidence linking
Mendenhall to Tammy Zywicki, a 21yearold senior who was studying Spanish at Grinnell College.
"We're looking into that," FBI agent Ross Rice said. "Nothing has been determined yet."
The Chicago Tribune reported Monday that 15 law enforcement agencies from six states have contacted
Nashville police about unsolved homicides.
Mendenhall was charged with criminal homicide in Tennessee last week after he allegedly admitted to killing
Sara Nicole Hulbert, 25. She was found dead June 26 at a truck stop along Interstate Highway 24 in Nashville.
According to Metro Nashville police, Mendenhall helped police quickly build a case of interstate serial
homicide against him.
Mom asks whether trucker killed her daughter 1
Last Thursday, Detective Sgt. Pat Postiglione was traveling to the Truck Stops of America to do followup
interviews in the Hulbert murder. On the way, the detective saw a semitrailer that looked like a vehicle being
sought in the investigation. Postiglione followed the truck into the Truck Stops of America parking lot.
He approached the driver and knocked on the door of his cab. Mendenhall got out of the truck and reportedly
appeared nervous.
Postiglione asked him if he could look inside the truck and Mendenhall gave him permission.
Postiglione said he saw blood in the vehicle and detained Mendenhall.
Later, during questioning, the driver implicated himself in Hulbert's murder as well as the murder of
Symantha Winters, 48, of Nashville, police said.
Winters was found shot to death on June 6 in a trash container at the Pilot Truck Stop in Lebanon, Tenn.
As gruesome details begin to emerge, authorities are keeping track of Mendenhall's alleged victims on a map.
So far, he is allegedly connected to six homicides in Indiana in Indianapolis and Lake Station and in the
South in the two Tennessee cases and Birmingham, Ala., and Suwanee, Ga.
No one was ever charged with Zywicki's murder. But every August the anniversary of the death of her only
daughter JoAnn Zywicki calls detectives to get an update.
JoAnn Zywicki and her husband, Hank, have been through all of this before with other possible suspects a
truck driver in California who confessed to killing four women, and a serial rapist sitting in a Minnesota
prison, to name two.
She said families sometimes fall apart following such tragedies, but theirs has remained intact. There have
been weddings, graduations and even grandchildren since that day in 1992 when life in the Zywicki family
seemed to come to a stop.
Tammy Zywicki graduated from high school in South Carolina. Her parents were living in New Jersey when
she was killed.
"She wanted to experience a different part of the country," her mother said Monday. "She wanted to go to a
small liberal arts college and she wanted to play soccer and she just liked that part of the country."
There are many unanswered questions about Tammy Zywicki's death. It was widely reported that her 1985
Pontiac, which was found along Interstate Highway 80 near LaSalle, Ill., had broken down, leaving her
vulnerable at the side of the road. The vehicle was towed from the scene.
Several passersby said they saw Zywicki talking to men who apparently stopped to help. Investigators have
suspected the killer may have been a trucker because a semitrailer was seen near Zywicki's parked car.
That was on Aug. 23, 1992. Nine days later, Zywicki's body was found 500 miles away, wrapped in a sheet
and blanket near Interstate Highway 44 in southwest Missouri. She had been stabbed eight times, seven times
in the chest, and had bled to death.
"Someone knows what happened," JoAnn Zywicki said Monday.
Reporter Tom Alex can be reached at (515) 2848088 or talex@dmreg.com
Photo: T. Zywicki
Photo: Mendenhall
Caption:
Section: Metro Iowa
Page: 1
Byline: Alex Tom
Source: Staff
From:
Reward offered in 1992 murder
Tammy Zywicki had been heading to Grinnell College.
ST. LOUIS The horror of the killing grabbed headlines: After her car breaks down along an Illinois
freeway, a college student described by her mom as an allAmerican "girly girl" is snatched up, sexually
attacked and repeatedly stabbed, perhaps by a trucker posing as a good Samaritan.
Tammy Zywicki's body eventually turned up in a blanket wrapped with duct tape in southwestern Missouri,
hundreds of miles from where she was last seen alive.
Now two decades later, the killer remains elusive, and federal and Illinois investigators hope a $50,000
reward changes that. On Wednesday, the eve of the 20th anniversary of Zywicki's disappearance, the head of
Illinois State Police insisted investigators haven't forgotten the vexing case.
"This investigation remains a top priority, both for me personally as well as the men and women" of the
agency, State Police Director Hiram Grau said, noting that authorities "are committed to bringing justice and
peace to the Zywicki family."
On Aug. 23, 1992, Zywicki had just dropped off her younger brother at Northwestern University in suburban
Chicago and turned her 1985 Pontiac T1000 toward Iowa's Grinnell College, where she played soccer and
would have been a senior. The 21yearold from Marlton, N.J., was mulling graduate school, aspiring to
perhaps teach Spanish someday.
It wasn't meant to be.
After her car broke down along Interstate Highway 80 near LaSalle, Ill., a passerby caught the last glimpses
of her alive there at mile marker 83. Some witnesses said a tractortrailer was seen parked behind her car.
Others say they saw a pickup truck.
Zywicki's body turned up nine days later just east of Joplin, Mo. The 5foot2inch, 120pound woman,
who once wrote in a high school journal she didn't want to suffer when she died, had been stabbed repeatedly
in the chest.
A task force headed by the FBI and Illinois State Police spent months chasing hundreds of leads "without
success" before disbanding, Wednesday's statement from those two agencies said. Investigators looked at
Reward offered in 1992 murder 1
truckers suspected in killings and sexual attacks elsewhere but eventually eliminated them from suspicion in
Zywicki's death.
Going years without knowing who killed her daughter has tormented JoAnn Zywicki. Last month, she said
she and her husband have endured the many birthdays, holidays and other special occasions they no longer
get to share with Tammy, and "you just go into a pattern of maybe acceptance that that's the way it is."
On Wednesday, she welcomed at least the public word that investigators still are pursuing the case.
"Something's better than nothing, and nothing's gained unless you try," said the 70yearold mother, who
now lives in Ocala, Fla. "Twenty years has been a lot harder than I thought it would be. ... We just have too
many memories with her not around. It would just be nice to get some kind of closure."
Reward offered in 1992 murder 2
Mom asks whether trucker killed her daughter
FBI agents will seek links to a 1992 death after a man is arrested in Tennessee.
By TOM ALEX
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
JoAnn Zywicki logged onto the computer at her Florida home Friday, and gave a casual glance at the main
news item that popped up on her screen. She paused. It was about an alleged serial killer, a truck driver.
Bruce Mendenhall, 56, had been arrested in Nashville, Tenn., and had implicated himself in at least six
homicides, the report said. Zywicki studied it line by line, and began searching the Web for any other news
about Mendenhall, of Albion, Ill.
Fifteen years ago Zywicki's daughter, Tammy, was murdered as she drove back to college in Iowa.
Authorities said she'd been seen at the side of a highway in Illinois talking to a truck driver. Her body, which
had been stabbed repeatedly, was found in a ditch in Missouri.
"I think there's enough there to at least look into it," JoAnn Zywicki said Monday at the prospect that
Mendenhall may be her daughter's killer. "One of the articles I read about, it said they found one of the
victim's shoes. And you know, they never found Tammy's shoes."
The FBI in Chicago said agents plan to contact Nashville authorities to see if there is evidence linking
Mendenhall to Tammy Zywicki, a 21yearold senior who was studying Spanish at Grinnell College.
"We're looking into that," FBI agent Ross Rice said. "Nothing has been determined yet."
The Chicago Tribune reported Monday that 15 law enforcement agencies from six states have contacted
Nashville police about unsolved homicides.
Mendenhall was charged with criminal homicide in Tennessee last week after he allegedly admitted to killing
Sara Nicole Hulbert, 25. She was found dead June 26 at a truck stop along Interstate Highway 24 in Nashville.
According to Metro Nashville police, Mendenhall helped police quickly build a case of interstate serial
homicide against him.
Last Thursday, Detective Sgt. Pat Postiglione was traveling to the Truck Stops of America to do followup
interviews in the Hulbert murder. On the way, the detective saw a semitrailer that looked like a vehicle being
sought in the investigation. Postiglione followed the truck into the Truck Stops of America parking lot.
He approached the driver and knocked on the door of his cab. Mendenhall got out of the truck and reportedly
appeared nervous.
Postiglione asked him if he could look inside the truck and Mendenhall gave him permission.
Postiglione said he saw blood in the vehicle and detained Mendenhall.
Later, during questioning, the driver implicated himself in Hulbert's murder as well as the murder of
Symantha Winters, 48, of Nashville, police said.
Winters was found shot to death on June 6 in a trash container at the Pilot Truck Stop in Lebanon, Tenn.
As gruesome details begin to emerge, authorities are keeping track of Mendenhall's alleged victims on a map.
So far, he is allegedly connected to six homicides in Indiana in Indianapolis and Lake Station and in the
South in the two Tennessee cases and Birmingham, Ala., and Suwanee, Ga.
No one was ever charged with Zywicki's murder. But every August the anniversary of the death of her only
daughter JoAnn Zywicki calls detectives to get an update.
JoAnn Zywicki and her husband, Hank, have been through all of this before with other possible suspects a
truck driver in California who confessed to killing four women, and a serial rapist sitting in a Minnesota
prison, to name two.
She said families sometimes fall apart following such tragedies, but theirs has remained intact. There have
been weddings, graduations and even grandchildren since that day in 1992 when life in the Zywicki family
seemed to come to a stop.
Tammy Zywicki graduated from high school in South Carolina. Her parents were living in New Jersey when
she was killed.
"She wanted to experience a different part of the country," her mother said Monday. "She wanted to go to a
small liberal arts college and she wanted to play soccer and she just liked that part of the country."
There are many unanswered questions about Tammy Zywicki's death. It was widely reported that her 1985
Pontiac, which was found along Interstate Highway 80 near LaSalle, Ill., had broken down, leaving her
vulnerable at the side of the road. The vehicle was towed from the scene.
Several passersby said they saw Zywicki talking to men who apparently stopped to help. Investigators have
suspected the killer may have been a trucker because a semitrailer was seen near Zywicki's parked car.
That was on Aug. 23, 1992. Nine days later, Zywicki's body was found 500 miles away, wrapped in a sheet
and blanket near Interstate Highway 44 in southwest Missouri. She had been stabbed eight times, seven times
in the chest, and had bled to death.
"Someone knows what happened," JoAnn Zywicki said Monday.
Reporter Tom Alex can be reached at (515) 2848088 or talex@dmreg.com
Photo: T. Zywicki
Photo: Mendenhall
Caption:
Section: Metro Iowa
Page: 1
Byline: Alex Tom
Source: Staff
From:

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Datestamp: 08/27/1992

Students take up the search for classmate As

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