Coincidences: Tammy Zywicki case
I hope I spelled that word right. One of the aspects of Tammy Zywicki's case that I really have never delved into are the coincidences surrounding it. I do not have much left to talk about, but there is one coincidence that makes one think about time. And like I wrote previously, I can understand the explanations for distance, but not time. So that is what I focus on. My blog deals with distance but always in how it relates to time and how one might think.
So I have yet another time explanation dealing with the day Tammy Zywicki disappeared. It is kind of like one of those algebra problems about the two trains where if one leaves at one moment going one speed and the other at another speed, when will they meet. Try to understand....Tammy Zywicki leaves Evanston, IL at 1 pm. travels down the expressway and breaks down at approximately 2:30pm give or take a few minutes for Chicago traffic. I have estimated this. I am guessing someone actually took the route in their car on a Sunday afternoon and would have a better guess or maybe they just used Mapquest(I like things difficult..lol), but I think according to mileage I am relatively sure. She breaks down at 2:30. The last person to see her saw her talking to a semi driver a little before 3:30, 3:28 to be exact.
According to statements 26 different people stopped that tried to help Tammy. I do not like eyewitness statements at 65 mph so lets cut that down to say 12. As her mother said in the article, "All those people stopped to help her and not one of them had a cellular phone they could pick up to get her some help." I started thinking about that and that is REALLY true. So 12 different vehicles stopped to help Tammy, each with a different person. Now estimate the time they spend with her trying to help. It would take at least 1 minute to exit the vehicle(meaning slow down, stop, get out) and another minute to leave to go back to the vehicle if she says she did not need help. Lets also say the conversation between Tammy and each samaritan takes 2 minutes to complete. That is a total of 4 minutes per samaritan. 12 x 4 equals 48 minutes. Now obviously these people are not lined up to come right after the other so lets say the down time is 1 minute meaning after one samaritan leaves she has one minute by herself before another one shows up. So you add 12 + 48 minutes equals 60 minutes. In addition there was a woman who broke down right behind Tammy so close that she could see her car and estimates she only missed her by 15 minutes. I am guessing if this woman has read reports and believes it is the truck driver, who witnesses say Tammy was talking to last at 3:28, then this woman must have broke down around 3:45p.m. Finding out what time she actually broke down would help prove my point even more. My point would also be enhanced if say it takes longer than an hour and a half to drive from Evanston to where she broke down. As for whether or not Tammy Zywicki was a free spirit who would or would not have taken a ride, that really goes out the window because of the car problem. If the car has started before because it cooled and you saw your brother add oil and water, wouldn't one think she would give the car at least an hour before making any type of decision, whether to leave with someone or do something else. There is no reason she would leave her car herself before checking to see if it would start after cooling.
In case you have not figured it out by now, the point I am getting at is that there is no way mathematically possible Tammy Zywicki saw 26 different vehicles who stopped to help her. She didn't have the time. The other point is that her killer is an incredibly lucky individual. Think about it: He manages to stop to talk to Tammy when she is alone with the time window I have prescribed above. As one of the samaritans, in less than 2 minutes he gains her trusts and manages to get her close enough to his car to kidnapp her, all the while not knowing she would be there in the first place. And don't mistake the point. This is a kidnapping. You can rob someone and leave them at their car, especially without a phone. It is not like they can chase you down or call the police. A robber has no regard for the person themselves. They only carry about your belongings, not you(unless of course you are the belonging).
If there is one thing I have always wondered it is why the FBI or police think she was kidnapped by a truck driver. What makes her being kidnapped by a truck driver so cut and dry? I wonder why the FBI does not say to themselves at the exit where she was found, "The guy could have driven 2 minutes down this country road and had complete privacy at night so why didn't he?"
It is an interesting question in regards to Tammy Zywicki's case.
Labels: Tammy Zywicki
posted by J @ 6:28 PM
5 Comments:
I was in high school and lived very close to the town this happened in. Evanston campus to this location would take a little over 1 1/2 hours almost two depending on traffic. I also had an old bag phone in my car but never used it because it was expensive to do so.
I was in college at the time and had a friend who was friends with her, both if us living in south jersey. My educational background is in crime, law and forensic psychology.
Timelines and eyewitnesses are inherently unreliable. Whether the 1:00pm departing time or the 3:28pm (last time see) are correct is impossible to know.
If she did drive 1.5 hour then she was in the side of the highway for 1 hr at a minimum. Truck driver was last to be seen with her and thus may have been last to see her alive.
Bruce Mendenhall was a suspect and remains one. A truck is an easy place to store a subject without anyone seeing. Even if she was sitting next to him, it is almost impossible to see into a truck cab.
Keith hunter jesperson was a similar killer. Truckers can cover several states in a day and thus have easy alibi's.
Tammy was likely subdued quickly and never had a chance much like how Ted bundy would take his victims. She was also found several states away which would be unlikely for a local serial killer to do.
From what we know the killer was not from the area and not omfortable sticking around. My best guess is that it was a trucker, who looked for a quick opportunity, saw it, and the rest is unfortunate history.
I think I remember chatting with you maybe 2 years ago? It is nice to know someone still reads this blog.
I think it is good someone can speak to actually knowing Tammy Zywicki. I never knew her as I was in jr. high when she was killed.
As for your theory does that include the stop for food? Something else that I think is whether there was any sign of a struggle? I think most criminals would opt for their victims leaving by choice first, then choosing to abduct them if they do not want to. The problem is I think it would take more than just a few minutes to convince her. She simply wants to wait. So if you are a criminal how do you convince her? One time I got my car back from the mechanic and it did not start. I told him and he came out, opened the hood, then connected two plugs together. It took a second. Sometimes I wonder if maybe someone looking at her car could do the same thing to insure that her car would not start even if being told that it will if it sits long enough?
Who really knows? Most likely it is the Bierbrodt guy. Even I am amazed at the coincidences that are present with him.
I am just happy football season is here. I have Washington pulling an upset over New York. Will it happen? Just like my blog, it is just what I think. But I believe in Grossman. I think he can do it, ....maybe.
Intriguing case. I lived in New Jersey for 28 years about 8 miles
from where Tammy lived. Didn't know the family. You can imagine the news coverage
it generated in the area through the years being a local event.
Keeps it in the fore front of your mind.
Few things: I don't think she was abducted, I think she went with her killer
on her own violation. After traveling thru Spain alone maybe thought
she could take care of herself. I believe the dude Lonnie did it.
To much circumstantial evidence, Ken worth blanket, giving
his wife same watch…. Leaving body near his home where he knew
remote areas. I wonder if he killed her right off an the had to meet his
trucking schedule and as a result drove around with her body for a few days???
Why did killer dress body, usually these type of killers dump naked body.
One last indignity I guess. Were they ever able to determine if the
clothing was hers? Or where she was actually killed? You would think
it would be difficult to stab someone in what appears to be the confined
area of a truck cab. I read one posting that her body was found
near the Sarcoxie exit. Is this correct?
Wonder why someone would chance a trip of that distance when car was overheating.
Not going to fix itself. Perhaps they thought it was just low on coolant
and not a thermostat or leaking problem. Anyone know what the vehicle problem was?
Yeah, I know hindsight is 20 / 20.
Hope, someday killer is identified and if still alive punished for sake of
family.
I am surprised this blog still generates interest. I do not post anymore. Now I read other true crime blogs. They're more interesting.
I do not really know much. Was she abducted or left with her killer? Different people do different things. I don't know. Did Mr. Bierbrodt kill her? I don't know. There is alot of circumstantial pointing to him, but I believe if police could nail him down to the crime they would have done it already.
The clothing, at least the outer clothing was hers. She was wearing sweat pants with soccer patches from the teams she had played for. Her shirt said Eastside Eagles soccer on it when she was found, a foreboding sign as told by a reporter in a news report when identification was trying to be made. Supposedly the bra she had on was different than what she usually wore.
If the killer did drive around with her, he must have a strong nose because decomposing bodies leave foul odors. That is probably one of the reasons her body was wrapped in a blanket. No one knows where she was killed. The assumption is inside of a truck cab. Her body was found at Exit 33 off I-44 in Missouri.
I never read what the vehicle problem was. I have had quite a few so I can only guess. One time I was driving and all the sudden the oil light flickered and I pulled over. It was very quick. I do not know how quickly she and her brother had to pull over but mine was quick. The oil light flickered and then the engine would shut off. I remember hearing this rustling sound under the car all that day even though it seemed to run fine. I learned later the sound was water jetting out of a hole. I had actually heard the sound before but thought nothing of it. I never read that her brother heard any sound though. You will definitely hear a sound when you add water. When that happened I thought of this case because I remember the brother added water AND oil. When I was getting my own advice because the engine was smoking a little, the person told me to add oil. Ironically I had an oil leak and kept up with checking the oil so on a hunch before leaving I checked the radiator even though the car sounded fine. Radiator was bone dry so I thought it was the car overheating because of the radiator. So I added water. Mechanic made it very simple for me. "If it was the radiator the leak would be on this side of the car. Your leak is under the timing belt." His point: water pump. But police would have checked this out by adding water themselves or checking which side of the car the leak is on.
Her father actually had fitted out the car with belts, etc. in case she had a problem. A lot of college kids drive old cars and he certainly could not have known the extent of it. Cars break down. It happens even in newer vehicles.
1992 was a long time ago. I guess at things because she drove a different car, lived in a different time, made different decisions, etc. If this happened today, as one reporter put it, all she need do is pick up a cell phone. But then you have Amanda Tusing's case and she did have a cell phone. The point is simple:
You just never know.
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