Criminal Profiling: Tammy Zywicki case

I think I enjoy criminal profiling because it causes you to think, something I do not do much of lately. So in this post, I will try and summarize the main theories I have put forth considering this case along with the pros and cons of what I think makes the theory good or bad.

1. The Trucker Theory

Before I explain this one, I want to say that this theory is the one I have always started from. If anything, I try to believe that it is indeed a truck driver prowling the streets as a good samaritan. In many ways, it is the best theory simply because it accounts for the geography of the situation. It explains why there is nearly 500 miles between where Tammy Zywicki was kidnapped and where her body was found. But the point has always been to add different perspectives.

Pros: Quite a few truck drivers are ex-convicts. One of the main suspects from Peru, IL was an ex-convict. It accounts for her being found so far away. It accounts for why she was found at a highway exit(actually entrance ramp). It accounts for the eyewitness discription of the semi with the diagonal stripes.

Cons: It only takes 10 hours to drive to southwest Missouri. Why is she in different clothing? One very important thing to remember is that truckers are mobile. By virtue of their mobility they can be hundreds of miles away. So why would the truck driver wait very long at all to commit a rape/murder when his truck cab provides the best privacy? Why would you not commit the assault very soon after kidnapping, then place the body, then be hundreds of miles away the following day? If they ever do catch this trucker or if it is indeed Bruce Mendenhall, the one question I would want to ask him is, "Why do you pick that exit to place her body?" The funny thing is that in 1992 that exit's gas station probably looked alot better, was used by MORE people than it is today. So why there? If it is indeed an over the road trucker, they KNOW the roads, the exits, etc. It just suprises me that some trucker driving for even a short while would choose an exit where people would be getting on and off the expressway.

2. The Missouri Theory

Basically because of where she is found, her killer had to have made it home to Missouri with her.

Pros: It explains why she is so far away. It explains why she is in different clothing. It explains why she is found at the Missouri highway exit.

Cons: It defies most kidnapping theory that states most kidnappers only take their victims as far as the resistance they receive from them. It does not explain why the killer would feel a need to stage the scene to make it look like it is a trucker by placing the body at a highway exit. It does not explain why someone would drive so far even if they were from Missouri. It makes it incredibly difficult to prove, placing someone in Illinois. Last, it would make the killer an incredibly patient person.

3. My Intuition Theory

There is not much to this one and I am certainly not going to describe dreams again. The only commonality that I notice from my intuition is that I see heights. Everything is on a ledge, Tammy Zywicki, her car, etc. And both of them are really close to the ledge.

Pros: They say you should trust your intuition.

Cons: My history teacher was obviously wrong, and when it comes to any sort of dreams, trying to interpret them is like trying to do astrophysics. A person's intuition is determined by so many different things, the books you read, the music you listen to, even the blog posts you write(lol).

4. The Tow Truck Theory

I actually like this theory the best. It ties up a lot of loose ends. Read previous post if you want to know about this theory.

Pros: It explains why she might have trusted someone. It provides a link between a possible person who used to be a truck driver and would have a Kenworth blanket. It explains why the doors on her car would be locked. It might explain the possible "sighting" of a young blonde at a hotel looking for a room. Maybe that blonde was trying to say she was with a tow truck driver who was allowing her to check for a room to stay. It is not out of the question. When I got my car towed to the shop, since I was in the middle of nowhere the auto shop helped set me up with my hotel room because it was late in the day and the parts would not be there until tomorrow. Maybe the motel clerk heard wrong, instead of going to Wisconsin, maybe it was a tow company that sounded similar.

Cons: It still does not explain what she is doing so far away. Even if it is a former truck driver turned tow truck driver, driving 500 miles away is no better than driving 200 miles, etc. It does not explain why the car stayed there, but she is gone.

5. The Walking Theory

Basically she walked to the gas station or to a home near where her car broke down and was kidnapped there.

Pros: It might explain why she has no shoes when found, especially considering she is otherwise fully clothed. It explains her vulnerability in a kidnapping situation. There simply is no one there to witness her fight her attacker, which to me is one of the oddest things about her kidnapping. Even if she is taken by force, how brazen do you have to be to try to kidnap someone from the side of a busy highway? I am quite sure a serial killer looking for victims could find a much quieter highway or prey on unsuspecting people at truckstops alot easier than trying to kidnapp someone from the side of I-80.

Cons: Way too many people would have witnessed her walking down the side of the highway especially since they would see the car first, then her. Does not explain why again she would be found so far away in Missouri. The other possibility is she tried to walk to the nearest farmhouse, a possibility I considered for a while only because I was in my mode of "that is what I would have done." But again there lies a huge problem: There is a fence that blocks the way, even tougher to get around if the person is 5'2" tall. Walking to the nearest farmhouse was the only theory I actually physically tested. I never went through the fence though. I thought this was a good theory because it was minimal walking and it kills two birds with one stone: she can walk to make a phone call but at the same time let the car keep cooling off. In addition, it explains my oft wondered question(if she left on her own volition): Why no note? Maybe because she did not think she would be gone long enough to need one?




The way I try to think up "solutions" is by visualizing things. I visualize a kidnapper, Tammy Zywicki, and run through the various theory events in my head. Then I discount them one by one because I get to a point where I realize no, that cannot be possible. Even now I am discounting the tow truck theory because it all rests on one question: Did she have the keys with her or were they in the car? Plus, tow guys like to keep the door open with the key in the dash so they can access the vehicle easy when they get back to the shop. With my old car, they never lock it. Only I lock it because I consider what I have inside to actually be valuable.


I don't know who killed Tammy Zywicki. I sometimes think I do but I don't. I guess I just like to think every once and a while. Maybe somewhere in all my blog posts there lies the answer. At least nobody can say I was not thorough.