tammy zywicki coverage

Datestamp: 08/27/1992

Students take up the search for classmate AsIllinois police continued to look for a GrinnellCollege student who disappeared Sundayafternoon, friends and fellow students took to theroad 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. "Butno one said, `Something has happened to Tammy and we can do something about it.' " News of herdisappearance reached Grinnell students and faculty Tuesday.

"Everyone was shocked just knowing a college student had been abducted," said Michael Ison, a Grinnellsenior 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 seniorstudying Spanish. Seventeen of them volunteered to drive around Iowa and neighboring states to put upposters 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'tknow 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 waslast seen looking under the hood of her car alongside the road. Her car was found a few hours later, with noindication of foul play.

Zywicki had last talked to her brother Daren, 19, Sunday afternoon in Evanston, Ill., where he attendsNorthwestern 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 missingGrinnell student Optimism slowly turned to dreadFriday as college students in Iowa, Illinois andGeorgia expanded the five−day search for GrinnellCollege student Tammy Zywicki.

Zywicki, 21, was headed to Grinnell on Sunday when she apparently had trouble with her white 1985 PontiacT−1000 −− which resembles a Chevette −− on Interstate Highway 80 in a rural area near Utica, Ill. "We'vegot two planes and one helicopter in the air. Groups of students from Northwestern (University) and GrinnellCollege 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 whichdirection 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 wasseen 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," saidAndy Hamilton, 29, sports information director.

Zywicki, who worked for Hamilton as a photographer, planned to stay two weeks at Grinnell before headingto 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 contributionsfrom local businesses, alumni, students and the school, students are mailing flyers to churches, policeagencies, 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 studentstargeted 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 five−day 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 betweenPittsburgh and Evanston. She dropped him off at Northwestern University Sunday afternoon. The car wasfound 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 theChicago suburb of Oak Park, about 90 minutes from where Zywicki's car was found, while they work withauthorities.

WHERE TO CALL Anyone with information on Tammy Zywicki should call Illinois State Police at815−224−1150.

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 five−day search for Grinnell College student Tammy Zywicki.2


Students take up the search for classmate AsIllinois police continued to look for a GrinnellCollege student who disappeared Sundayafternoon, friends and fellow students took to theroad 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. "Butno one said, `Something has happened to Tammy and we can do something about it.' " News of herdisappearance reached Grinnell students and faculty Tuesday.

"Everyone was shocked just knowing a college student had been abducted," said Michael Ison, a Grinnellsenior 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 seniorstudying Spanish. Seventeen of them volunteered to drive around Iowa and neighboring states to put upposters 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'tknow 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 waslast seen looking under the hood of her car alongside the road. Her car was found a few hours later, with noindication of foul play.

Zywicki had last talked to her brother Daren, 19, Sunday afternoon in Evanston, Ill., where he attendsNorthwestern 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 manthinks he saw a woman on I−80 who subsequentlydisappeared. A Des Moines truck driver thinks hemay have met the man who picked up missingGrinnell College student Tammy Zywicki.

On Sunday, Robert Bullington's story was one of dozens the Illinois State Police planned to follow; it wasone more lead in the mystery. Zywicki's friend, Jennifer Dowd, said she remained optimistic but "there hasbeen nothing that has offered a breakthrough in the case." Zywicki, 21, of Marlton, N.J., disappeared justmore than a week ago while en route to Grinnell from the Chicago area. Her abandoned car was found alongInterstate Highway 80 in Illinois.

Nebraska Plates

Bullington, 25, of 1300 E. Sheridan Ave. said he watched a young woman climb into a gray ChevroletCelebrity 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 theafternoon of Aug. 23. Reports of a semitrailer truck in the area at that time keep cropping up. Witnesses havetold 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 hesaid investigators aren't ruling anything out.

Friends and relatives of Zywicki said Sunday night that a development in the case may be announced as soonas 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 knowthere was a young blond woman standing there when I went by and I saw her get into a car with a guy I hadbeen talking to on the CB."

Bullington said he earlier had coffee with the man, who picked up the woman near the Peru exit of InterstateHighway 80.

Trucker offers tip on student A Des Moines man thinks he saw a woman on I−80 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 theshipment. Bullington said he struck up a citizen's band radio conversation with a Nebraska man who said hisname 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 herblond hair."

Bullington stopped his truck about 1,000 to 1,500 feet down the road. But the other man stopped hisChevrolet 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 hadtrouble 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 carSunday 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 havingtrouble sleeping and eating. It's really starting to bother me. When it's a girl I always stop in a heartbeat. Butthis time he stopped quicker than I could."

Tammy Zywicki;Seen by truck driver?



Truck driver sought in missing student caseCallers say they saw semi near her car With a pleafor help from the public, the Illinois State Policeand the FBI released a composite Monday of asemitrailer truck reportedly seen parked near thecar of a missing Grinnell College student.

The nationwide search for Tammy Zywicki, missing since Aug. 23, continued to grow as officials releasedtheir first solid lead in an investigation of the possible kidnapping of the student. Zywicki, 21, and her brotherhad driven together from Marlton, N.J., to Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. She dropped him off andheaded to Grinnell. Her car was found along Interstate Highway 80 near Utica, Ill.

Several callers have reported seeing a five−axle semitrailer truck, white in color with two brownish−coloredstripes on both the tractor and the trailer. Investigators with the FBI and the Illinois State Police are trying tolocate the driver.

The driver is not a suspect, but may have information that could lead to Zywicki, said Lt. Harold Brignadelloof 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. "Thesecallers were passers−by. They're recalling something they observed for two to three seconds and that's it. Wewant all information forwarded."

The FBI is actively investigating the disappearance under the federal statutes regarding kidnapping, saidagent 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 thesearch.

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. Butwe have to keep planning a few days in advance. I think everyone is scared, but if you don't keep a positiveoutlook, 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 herhome 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 thevictim was wearing has links to Tammy ZywickiThe young woman matches a description −−except for hair color −− of the missing GrinnellCollege student. The nationwide search for aGrinnell College student took a worrisome turnTuesday when the body of a young woman −−matching her age, height and weight −− wasdiscovered along Interstate Highway 44 about 40miles west of Springfield, Mo.

Investigators said late Tuesday they could not confirm whether the young woman was Tammy Zywicki. Thebody, found about 11 a.m. Tuesday in a ditch, wore a T−shirt that said "Eastside Eagles Soccer 1989," saidSgt. 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 Runner−ups," matchthose of the Greenville County Recreation Commission. Zywicki played in the commission league, MarthaBeckham, her high school coach, told Moore.

However, the clothing on the body did not match the outfit Zywicki reportedly was wearing when shedropped 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 countryhave 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, theyplanned to fan out around the state to distribute new fliers with a sketch of a semitrailer truck seen nearZywicki's abandoned vehicle.

The State Street Station Company bar in Grinnell had scheduled a fund−raiser tonight, with a $5 cover chargeused 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 −− hasbeen relentless.

Rena Patrick, a resident adviser at Grinnell College who has helped coordinate the search, said Tuesday nightthat people were waiting for more news with a mix of hope and dread. Word that a body had been discoveredcame during the 5:30 p.m. television news. When students gathered at the dining hall at 6 p.m., the newdevelopments spread.

"There were a lot of tears, I think. A lot of emotions. People don't know what to think and we're trying toremain 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 truckingindustry magazines," said Zywicki's brother, Dean, 25, a computer science student at Johns HopkinsUniversity in Baltimore. "Everybody kind of feels like we're getting toward the end of this, whatever the endmight 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 thetime. The graduate student missed registration.

"Everybody's got huge circles under their eyes, but they keep going," Dean Zywicki said.

His youngest brother, 19−year−old 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 nextmorning, so the car, a white 1985 Pontiac T−1000, could rest.

"She didn't foresee any problems," Daren Zywicki said.

Law enforcement officers now are trying to find a trucker −− described as a 6−foot−tall white male, 30 to 45years old, with collar−length, bushy, dark hair −− who may have talked to Tammy Zywicki. The man is not asuspect. He was driving a white five−axle semitrailer truck, with two brownish stripes on both the tractor andthe trailer.

Zywicki's brothers said they can't understand why the trucker hasn't contacted either the FBI or the IllinoisState Police to help the investigation.

Tammy Zywicki Disappeared

TIPS Officials are pursuing all tips in Tammy Zywicki's disappearance. Call (815) 224−1150 withinformation.





Nebraska Plates








Stopped for Coffee





"Looked Confused"











Police hint body is Zywicki's Police in Springfield,Mo., were told Wednesday afternoon in a meetingthat the partly decomposed body of a womanfound this week in Missouri is that of a New Jerseywoman, a possible reference to Grinnell Collegestudent Tammy Zywicki.

Authorities said they may formally identify the body today. The body roughly matches Zywicki's age, heightand weight. The 21−year−old has been missing since Aug. 23, when she disappeared while traveling from herparents' 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 thewoman found dead Tuesday in a ditch off Interstate Highway 44 about 40 miles west of Springfield. She hadbeen stabbed seven times in the chest and once in the right arm. Two wounds punctured a lung and onewound punctured the liver.

Investigator Dana Carrington of the Springfield Police Department confirmed that the body is not one ofthree missing Springfield women who disappeared June 7. He said his agency held its daily 4 p.m. meetingon 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 namewasn't mentioned.

Don Lakin, coroner in Lawrence County, Mo., said the body is so decayed that eye color couldn't bedetermined. Decay also disfigured the face, he said. High humidity speeded decomposition of the soft eyetissue. And the hair color could have been affected by the dye of the wet red blanket in which the body waswrapped, 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'rewaiting on dental records and a forensic expert in den−tal comparisons. Decomposition distorts the normalappearance of the body so that normal recognition would be difficult. There's always that nth possibility itcould 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 sexuallyassaulted. 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 inEvanston, Ill. She was headed to Grinnell from her parents' home in Marlton, N.J. Her car was found on theside 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'researching 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 soccerplayer at Grinnell, is 5 feet, 2 inches tall and 120 pounds. She and the dead woman are the same height andweight.

The body was clad in a T−shirt 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 deadwoman 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 ashirt like that. As for the shorts, I have no idea. Those initials could stand for anything. We're just hoping forthe best."

Dean Zywicki, a Johns Hopkins University student staying in the Chicago area with his younger brotherduring 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 thevictim was wearing has links to Tammy ZywickiThe young woman matches a description −−except for hair color −− of the missing GrinnellCollege student. The nationwide search for aGrinnell College student took a worrisome turnTuesday when the body of a young woman −−matching her age, height and weight −− wasdiscovered along Interstate Highway 44 about 40miles west of Springfield, Mo.

Investigators said late Tuesday they could not confirm whether the young woman was Tammy Zywicki. Thebody, found about 11 a.m. Tuesday in a ditch, wore a T−shirt that said "Eastside Eagles Soccer 1989," saidSgt. 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 Runner−ups," matchthose of the Greenville County Recreation Commission. Zywicki played in the commission league, MarthaBeckham, her high school coach, told Moore.

However, the clothing on the body did not match the outfit Zywicki reportedly was wearing when shedropped 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 countryhave 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, theyplanned to fan out around the state to distribute new fliers with a sketch of a semitrailer truck seen nearZywicki's abandoned vehicle.

The State Street Station Company bar in Grinnell had scheduled a fund−raiser tonight, with a $5 cover chargeused 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 −− hasbeen relentless.

Rena Patrick, a resident adviser at Grinnell College who has helped coordinate the search, said Tuesday nightthat people were waiting for more news with a mix of hope and dread. Word that a body had been discoveredcame during the 5:30 p.m. television news. When students gathered at the dining hall at 6 p.m., the newdevelopments spread.

"There were a lot of tears, I think. A lot of emotions. People don't know what to think and we're trying toremain 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 truckingindustry magazines," said Zywicki's brother, Dean, 25, a computer science student at Johns HopkinsUniversity in Baltimore. "Everybody kind of feels like we're getting toward the end of this, whatever the endmight 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 thetime. The graduate student missed registration.

"Everybody's got huge circles under their eyes, but they keep going," Dean Zywicki said.

His youngest brother, 19−year−old 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 nextmorning, so the car, a white 1985 Pontiac T−1000, could rest.

"She didn't foresee any problems," Daren Zywicki said.

Law enforcement officers now are trying to find a trucker −− described as a 6−foot−tall white male, 30 to 45years old, with collar−length, bushy, dark hair −− who may have talked to Tammy Zywicki. The man is not asuspect. He was driving a white five−axle semitrailer truck, with two brownish stripes on both the tractor andthe trailer.

Zywicki's brothers said they can't understand why the trucker hasn't contacted either the FBI or the IllinoisState Police to help the investigation.

Tammy Zywicki Disappeared

TIPS Officials are pursuing all tips in Tammy Zywicki's disappearance. Call (815) 224−1150 withinformation.





Nebraska Plates








Stopped for Coffee





"Looked Confused"











Search on for Zywicki's killer Officials are workingunder the assumption that the Grinnell studentwas slain by a truck driver. A nationwide searchcontinued Thursday for the person who fatallystabbed Grinnell College student Tammy Zywickiand left her body in a mummy−like wrapping at alonely Missouri interstate highway entrance ramp.

Police said the murderer may have been a truck driver. A coroner confirmed the identity of the shoeless butfully clothed body of the 21−year−old woman at midday Thursday.

"I don't want to give out much information, because we're going to catch the bastard that done it," saidLawrence 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. Hedeclined to say, however, whether the multiple stab wounds to the chest that caused her death had been madethrough 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 helpidentify an assailant.

Dental Records

The identification of the remains, made possible by matching five cavities with Zywicki's dental records, hasallowed 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 spokesmanRoss 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 a6−foot white man, 30 to 45, with collar−length, bushy dark hair. Witnesses say he had left his five−axle 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 mummy−like 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 thelast 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 wasstranded. 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 aride. There were no signs of a struggle."

New Credibility

The truck driver theory gained new credibility when Missouri troopers learned more about the InterstateHighway 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 onthe 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 beencarried 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 "waspackaged, so to speak," Martin said.

"There were no markings on the sheet or blanket. They were from a full−size bed and could be from a motelor 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 thetruck 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 forinformation from the Zywicki family, Grinnell students and friends.

The truck being sought has been described as a five−axle semitrailer truck with a white background andbrownish 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 tediousjob," he said.

Family's Statement

Zywicki's family in New Jersey released a brief statement saying they were saddened that the body had beenpositively 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 wantthem to be able to kill again," the statement said.

Zywicki was on her way to Grinnell College after leaving her brother at Northwestern University inEvanston, Ill., where he is a student.

"She was a caring and friendly individual. I call her my princess," said her father, Hank Zywicki. "She lovedpeople."

ZYWICKI FUND Friends of Tammy Zywicki said Thursday a fund has been established at Grinnell Collegeto 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 beforelearning that the body of a young woman found along a Missouri highway was identified as that of theirdaughter, Tammy Zywicki.



FBI: Case won't be an easy one to solve Officialssift through hundreds of leads in Tammy Zywicki'sslaying. Investigators in several states Friday weresorting through hundreds of leads that describetrucks similar to the vehicle reportedly seen nearTammy Zywicki's disabled car.

The information, some of it called in by motorists on the road using cellular phones, failed to point policetoward Zywicki's killer. Troopers in several states, including Iowa, pulled over more than three dozen trucksthat 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'sslaying.

The body of the 21−year−old Grinnell College student was found Tuesday on a grassy slope at an InterstateHighway 44 interchange in Missouri, 33 miles east of Oklahoma. She had been stabbed several times in thechest.

Zywicki was traveling from her Marlton, N.J., home to Grinnell when her car broke down on InterstateHighway 80 near La Salle, Ill. One witness, a mechanic in the La Salle area, said he saw the woman talkingto a man standing near a semitrailer truck.

The witness, whom authorities have declined to identify, said the five−axle semitrailer truck had a whitebackground and brownish diagonal stripes across the cab and trailer. A company logo was juxtaposed acrossboth 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 a30−second description of the mysterious truck Friday night. A Fox Network spokesman said several FBIagents 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 well−intentioned man who rolled up to a disabled car Thursday onInterstate 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 willingto break their backs and help."

Authorities have declined to say whether Zywicki's purse, car keys and a camera were recovered. The itemswere 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 beenrecovered.

"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 theFBI's Long.

Investigators continue to rely upon the mechanic's description of the semitrailer truck. They point out that thedriver 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 StatePolice.

"He was very descriptive, very clear, very concise in providing information on the truck," said Schwarting.

The killing has prodded trucking−industry officials to counter publicity they say has reflected badly on thebusiness.

"We're getting hammered in the paper," said Scott Weiser, president of the Iowa Motor Truck Association inDes Moines. "Our information is that there is nothing other than one witness who said he may have seen atruck 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 onthis," 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 beentalked about all the time here."

"The truckers talk about what might have happened and what could be done. They say truck drivers aregetting 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 andconviction 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 peopleout 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 semitrailertruck that was seen near where Tammy Zywicki disappeared in Illinois. The sign was posted at theBosselman Hartner truck stop near Interstate Highway 80 and Hubbell Avenue near Des Moines.



Search on for Zywicki's killer Officials are workingunder the assumption that the Grinnell studentwas slain by a truck driver. A nationwide searchcontinued Thursday for the person who fatallystabbed Grinnell College student Tammy Zywickiand left her body in a mummy−like wrapping at alonely Missouri interstate highway entrance ramp.

Police said the murderer may have been a truck driver. A coroner confirmed the identity of the shoeless butfully clothed body of the 21−year−old woman at midday Thursday.

"I don't want to give out much information, because we're going to catch the bastard that done it," saidLawrence 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. Hedeclined to say, however, whether the multiple stab wounds to the chest that caused her death had been madethrough 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 helpidentify an assailant.

Dental Records

The identification of the remains, made possible by matching five cavities with Zywicki's dental records, hasallowed 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 spokesmanRoss 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 a6−foot white man, 30 to 45, with collar−length, bushy dark hair. Witnesses say he had left his five−axle 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 thelast 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 wasstranded. 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 aride. There were no signs of a struggle."

New Credibility

The truck driver theory gained new credibility when Missouri troopers learned more about the InterstateHighway 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 onthe 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 beencarried 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 "waspackaged, so to speak," Martin said.

"There were no markings on the sheet or blanket. They were from a full−size bed and could be from a motelor 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 thetruck 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 forinformation from the Zywicki family, Grinnell students and friends.

The truck being sought has been described as a five−axle semitrailer truck with a white background andbrownish 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 tediousjob," he said.

Family's Statement

Zywicki's family in New Jersey released a brief statement saying they were saddened that the body had beenpositively 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 wantthem to be able to kill again," the statement said.

Zywicki was on her way to Grinnell College after leaving her brother at Northwestern University inEvanston, Ill., where he is a student.

"She was a caring and friendly individual. I call her my princess," said her father, Hank Zywicki. "She lovedpeople."

ZYWICKI FUND Friends of Tammy Zywicki said Thursday a fund has been established at Grinnell Collegeto 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 beforelearning that the body of a young woman found along a Missouri highway was identified as that of theirdaughter, Tammy Zywicki.



Officials: No suspect yet in Zywicki case Mancharged in separate killing expected to beinterviewed Authorities Thursday dashed briefhopes of a breakthrough in the search for TammyZywicki's killer.

A 20−year−old northeast Missouri man charged with killing a local woman was not a suspect in the stabbingdeath of the Grinnell College student, they said. Authorities said the man, Paul Kreutzer, likely would beinterviewed 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 fatalstabbing and a roll of duct tape, the kind of tape that had been used to bind the body of the 21−year−oldZywicki.

Pike County, Mo., Sheriff James Wells confirmed that duct tape was found in the car, but a sheriff's deputysaid 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 thiscase 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 first−degree murder.

"The family has made an appeal not to blow this into a major story. The victim was very private, and they area 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 beennamed 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 callback.

"My feeling was that the Illinois sergeant I talked to didn't think he was a suspect. If he wanted to talk toPaul, he knows where he is," said Wells.

Master Sgt. Charles Schwarting, spokesman for the Illinois patrol, said investigators had Kreutzer on their listand 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 bodywas found Sept. 1 near an entrance ramp on Interstate Highway 44 in Missouri some 33 miles east of theOklahoma 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 truckdrivers. A witness said he saw Zywicki talking to a truck driver on the shoulder of the interstate before shedisappeared.

Grinnell men's and women's cross country track teams are collecting pledges for their run−a−thon Saturday tobenefit the Tammy Zywicki fund. Pledges can be made by calling (515) 269−3800.

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 mainnews 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 sixhomicides, the report said. Zywicki studied it line by line, and began searching the Web for any other newsabout 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, whichhad 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 thatMendenhall may be her daughter's killer. "One of the articles I read about, it said they found one of thevictim'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 linkingMendenhall to Tammy Zywicki, a 21−year−old 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 contactedNashville police about unsolved homicides.

Mendenhall was charged with criminal homicide in Tennessee last week after he allegedly admitted to killingSara 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 serialhomicide 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 follow−upinterviews in the Hulbert murder. On the way, the detective saw a semitrailer that looked like a vehicle beingsought 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 reportedlyappeared 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 ofSymantha 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 theSouth − 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 onlydaughter − 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 − atruck driver in California who confessed to killing four women, and a serial rapist sitting in a Minnesotaprison, to name two.

She said families sometimes fall apart following such tragedies, but theirs has remained intact. There havebeen weddings, graduations and even grandchildren since that day in 1992 when life in the Zywicki familyseemed to come to a stop.

Tammy Zywicki graduated from high school in South Carolina. Her parents were living in New Jersey whenshe was killed.

"She wanted to experience a different part of the country," her mother said Monday. "She wanted to go to asmall 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 1985Pontiac, which was found along Interstate Highway 80 near LaSalle, Ill., had broken down, leaving hervulnerable 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 havesuspected 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 sheetand blanket near Interstate Highway 44 in southwest Missouri. She had been stabbed eight times, seven timesin the chest, and had bled to death.

"Someone knows what happened," JoAnn Zywicki said Monday.


Reporter Tom Alex can be reached at (515) 284−8088 or [email protected]

Photo: T. Zywicki

Photo: Mendenhall

Caption:

Section: Metro IowaPage: 1Byline: Alex TomSource: StaffFrom:



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 Illinoisfreeway, a college student described by her mom as an all−American "girly girl" is snatched up, sexuallyattacked 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 $50,000reward changes that. On Wednesday, the eve of the 20th anniversary of Zywicki's disappearance, the head ofIllinois 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 theagency, State Police Director Hiram Grau said, noting that authorities "are committed to bringing justice andpeace to the Zywicki family."

On Aug. 23, 1992, Zywicki had just dropped off her younger brother at Northwestern University in suburbanChicago and turned her 1985 Pontiac T1000 toward Iowa's Grinnell College, where she played soccer andwould have been a senior. The 21−year−old from Marlton, N.J., was mulling graduate school, aspiring toperhaps teach Spanish someday.

It wasn't meant to be.

After her car broke down along Interstate Highway 80 near LaSalle, Ill., a passer−by caught the last glimpsesof her alive there at mile marker 83. Some witnesses said a tractor−trailer 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 5−foot−2−inch, 120−pound woman,who once wrote in a high school journal she didn't want to suffer when she died, had been stabbed repeatedlyin the chest.

A task force headed by the FBI and Illinois State Police spent months chasing hundreds of leads "withoutsuccess" 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 inZywicki's death.

Going years without knowing who killed her daughter has tormented JoAnn Zywicki. Last month, she saidshe and her husband have endured the many birthdays, holidays and other special occasions they no longerget 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 70−year−old mother, whonow lives in Ocala, Fla. "Twenty years has been a lot harder than I thought it would be. ... We just have toomany 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 mainnews 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 sixhomicides, the report said. Zywicki studied it line by line, and began searching the Web for any other newsabout 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, whichhad 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 thatMendenhall may be her daughter's killer. "One of the articles I read about, it said they found one of thevictim'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 linkingMendenhall to Tammy Zywicki, a 21−year−old 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 contactedNashville police about unsolved homicides.

Mendenhall was charged with criminal homicide in Tennessee last week after he allegedly admitted to killingSara 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 serialhomicide against him.


Last Thursday, Detective Sgt. Pat Postiglione was traveling to the Truck Stops of America to do follow−upinterviews in the Hulbert murder. On the way, the detective saw a semitrailer that looked like a vehicle beingsought 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 reportedlyappeared 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 ofSymantha 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 theSouth − 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 onlydaughter − 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 − atruck driver in California who confessed to killing four women, and a serial rapist sitting in a Minnesotaprison, to name two.

She said families sometimes fall apart following such tragedies, but theirs has remained intact. There havebeen weddings, graduations and even grandchildren since that day in 1992 when life in the Zywicki familyseemed to come to a stop.

Tammy Zywicki graduated from high school in South Carolina. Her parents were living in New Jersey whenshe was killed.

"She wanted to experience a different part of the country," her mother said Monday. "She wanted to go to asmall 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 1985Pontiac, which was found along Interstate Highway 80 near LaSalle, Ill., had broken down, leaving hervulnerable 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 havesuspected 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 sheetand blanket near Interstate Highway 44 in southwest Missouri. She had been stabbed eight times, seven timesin the chest, and had bled to death.

"Someone knows what happened," JoAnn Zywicki said Monday.


Reporter Tom Alex can be reached at (515) 284−8088 or [email protected]

Photo: T. Zywicki

Photo: Mendenhall

Caption:

Section: Metro IowaPage: 1Byline: Alex TomSource: StaffFrom:


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