Tammy Zywicki case: Hardees

I read two interesting items concerning Tammy Zywicki's case that I did not know before. First, before she ever broke down at MM83 near Utica, IL, her car also broke down earlier near Morris, IL. Second, supposedly she stopped at a Hardees before she broke down at MM83.

A Hardee's drink cup and a napkin that had been used to check the oil were found in her car by police after she disappeared. The only Hardee's I could find is an abandoned building that used to house the restaurant. It is located off Exit 90 in Ottawa, IL although I am not sure that is the one she went to the day she disappeared. The Hardee's has a large parking lot and the restaurant has alot of windows with the drive-thru facing the parking lot.

I assume she went through the drive thru because she had to keep going to school, but maybe she stopped to use the washroom. Obviously the police went there to help establish a timeline on the day of her disappearance. IF that is indeed the right restaurant, the fact it is so close to her breakdown point would be important. There is one common sense conclusion I can come to right now. Either she sat in her car at the restaurant parking lot and drank her soda or she drank it as she sat on the side of I-80. OR she was really thirsty. From the drive-thru to the breakdown point would be about 10 minutes. The police would not need this much guesswork. They would just get a copy of the receipt from the restaurant and talk to whoever might have took her order or might have seen her there.

The other reason the Hardees is important is that it is a stopping point, a place she might have been seen. What is kind of interesting about the media reports in Tammy Zywicki's case is that there is alot of talk about people that might have seen her, whether at a motel in Mendota, or as they drove past in their car. There is nothing about the people that actually DID see her, like the workers at Hardees. But all of this post is based on an assumption. It could be the police giving media the wrong info so as to keep information to themselves when she actually visited a McDonalds or Burger King. Or it is a different Hardees and not the one I am writing about. One of the things I wonder about is since dogs and metal detectors were used alongside I-80 checking for traces of Tammy Zywicki, were they used at the Hardee's restaurant?

The prevailing theory in this case is that her car broke down because it overheated. I do not know much about cars, but one thing I do know is that a car's engine is hottest immediately after you turn it off, especially if you have been traveling a distance in the heat. Sitting in a drive-thru with the car idling or in a parking lot with the car off I would think cause the car to have more problems if it was overheating. It's strange her car did not break down at Hardees.

Cara Knott and Amanda Tusing

I often compare Amanda Tusing's murder to that of Cara Knott in 1986 because of the similarities in both cases. There is also a People magazine article dated June 13, 1988, about Cara Knott's case. The case is so similar, in fact, that I look to it for information concerning what might have happened to Amanda Tusing. Even if Amanda Tusing was killed by someone posing as a police officer, Cara Knott's case is useful.

There is one thing I do wonder about which I always found odd. Cara Knott was dropped from a bridge into a creek where her body was found. In Amanda Tusing's case it looks as if she was also dropped into a creek. I imagine the Haunting Evidence psychics believe she was drowned in the creek because there was no injury to Amanda Tusing's body. I just cannot understand why someone would want to drag someone else struggling and alive to a creek bed to drown them. On a rainy night like that it would be extremely difficult not to get shoes muddy, dirty pants legs, in addition to being able to see what you are doing, especially while trying to carry or pull a body. Maybe she was put in the water somewhere else? That is why I kind of thought maybe it might be a woman. I think a man would just drop the body off the bridge. But then there is a chance the body would be injured. A woman would have to drag the body.

As for car keys, cell phones(maybe hers was on?), cans of soda, license and registration papers and ATM card, the "other" perspective was that maybe she did not drive her car to the spot where it was found. However, there is one huge problem with my own theory. The problem is that police would fingerprint the car placing her in it. The can of soda being cold would exclude the boyfriend, not unless someone can perform some type of magic trick to show me how a can of soda stays that cold on a humid, June night nearly two hours later.

A case like Amanda Tusing's can cause your imagination to run wild. That is all you can do.

Amanda Tusing: Time

My blog about Tammy Zywicki and Amanda Tusing is made up mostly of speculative bs. That is what I call it. I start from the idea that the prevailing theory is correct and then try to come up with a different perspective about each case.

For example, in Amanda Tusing's case the prevailing theory is that she was kidnapped and murdered by someone posing as law enforcement. This is a good theory. I have compared her case to that of a girl who actually was killed by a law enforcement officer, that being the case of Kara Knot. I try to come up with ideas based on the cases being similar. For example, in Kara Knot's case, the officer tried to erase his log book entry to show that he was not in the area when she was pulled over. Maybe if an officer killed Amanda Tusing, he did the same thing. Another example would be clothing. In Kara Knot's case, the officer had part of his badge ripped so slightly that Kara Knot had part of the unique string under her fingernails. In Amanda Tusing's case, if it was a real police officer and he drowned Amanda Tusing in the creek, I imagine his pants and shoes would need to be cleaned so police would check on who turned in their uniforms for cleaning that week. The problem is that in order for any of this stuff to be checked out it has to be a real officer and not someone posing as one.

But I always have to come up with a different perspective. My different perspective is that the case is not at all like the Haunting Evidence episode. I have often wondered if police checked the car's computer for information, whether that might help. I always notice with my car that whenever mechanics work on it the time is always messed up when I get the car back so I do not like using my car clock to keep track of time.

One thing I find strange, amongst all the others, is that it does not look like Amanda Tusing wore a watch. It seems odd because on the night in question she needed to be home by a certain time. I would think she would want to keep track of time. She pulls over onto the side of the road because of the rain storm and is losing time trying to get home. But I do not wear a watch either. What I do is use my cell phone. I imagine when the police checked her car the cell phone was on. Otherwise, unless she uses her car clock, how would she know what time it is?