The variables you cannot predict

One of the most interesting things about any murder investigation are the things the killer cannot predict. So in this post I am going to discuss the variables her killer(s) could not have predicted.

1. Hurricane Andrew
The afternoon Tammy Zywicki disappeared Hurricane Andrew was poised to hit south Florida on August 24th. This limited media coverage of Tammy's case mainly to the Midwest, although no one really knows how far. All I know is it seemed to be covered in Northern Illinois and the part of Iowa her college was located, but elsewhere it got little coverage. I have already discussed before why this might be important.

2. Using the bathroom
Sometimes I think the name of the article written about her case "The Long Road Back" could be right on target because examining certain things about her trip or whether she drank sodas on her long trips in a hot car with no A/C might be important. Basically, I believe that when you got to go you got to go and unlike guys you cannot just go along the side of the expressway.

3. Quarters
I wonder whether she left the change in her car or whether she had any change on her, etc. The reason is that IF she left the car voluntarily to walk to a gas station, you would think she might try to take some change to make a pay phone call. The problem is determining if any change is missing or if she had change to begin with.

4. The past of the mysterious semi with the orange rust-colored stripes
According to the FBI, close to 1500 logos match the logo design of the semi parked by Tammy's car. The wierd thing is that in nearly 17 years I have yet to see one that was even remotely close. What is amazing to me is that even if Tammy's killer parked the semi forever after the crime, he could not predict all the people that would know it along the way: the painter of the logo, the other drivers who knew him by his truck, etc. That is what is so odd. For the most part I do not even discuss the semi description because by now that semi is most likely junk and you can go on and on about all the sightings of this mysterious semi. In Indiana and Illinois alone there were numerious stories about semi drivers that were stopped who might be linked to Tammy Zywicki.

5. El Derecho- A windstorm that occurred on July 2, 1992 in the Chicago area. It would have caused alot of damage to trees and fences.

6. The other woman-
Supposedly a woman broke down a little bit before Tammy Zywicki right around the same time as her and thinks she missed seeing Tammy alongside the road by only 15 minutes or so. If it is a good samaritan prowling the highways like I-80 wouldn't it be a good idea to try and find out who broke down alongside I-80 on August 23, 1992, leading up to Tammy Zywicki's disappearance spot? The main question is why did the person kidnap and rob Tammy Zywicki but no one else? Maybe someone who broke down before Tammy Zywicki spoke to her kidnapper?

Maybe at the end of the day what my blog proved is that Tammy Zywicki's killer really is dead. As for the semi, I'll keep my eyes open.

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.

Veronica Jill Blumhorst

I just had to add this post after I saw this on the web. There is this girl who went missing back on September 20, 1990 named Veronica Jill Blumhorst. What I thought was interesting was that she was 21 years old when she disappeared, 5'0, 100 lbs, white female, blond hair, green eyes wearing off white courdory pants, a mint green tanktop, and a green sweater. I copied the following info from the website about her disappearance:

"Veronica Blumhorst was last seen leaving her place of employment in Mendota, Illinois during the early morning hours of September 20, 1990.
Blumhorst left work at Super Value Grocery Store, her vehicle was found parked in the garage of her residence just four blocks away from her place of employment the following morning.
Local law enforcement authorities were contacted and an extensive investigation was conducted, however Blumhorst whereabouts remain unknown.
In September 1991 dogs searched for the body of Veronica Blumhorst, in southern Lee County, including property surrounding the home of her boyfriend, but came up empty."

Now even if she has absolutely no connection to Tammy Zywicki, I would want to know if she ever wore any unique underwear. I wrote a previous post about continuity. Maybe I am wrong about how investigations should be run but to me that could be a possibility. I do not think Amanda Tusing's killer is Tammy Zywicki's killer, mainly because of geography. But this girl I do think could be linked possibly to Tammy's case, mainly because of geography. I think criminals do act in comfort zones, and I think where a person lives is a comfort zone. Again, this case, like Tammy's, is so darn old that whether or not the grocery store would have old credit card receipts or video, etc, to provide some sort of lead is probably gone forever.
I always think that one of the saddest things about Tammy's Zywicki's case is time. The thing about time is that it catches up with all of us. We alllllll get ours at the end of the day.
One of the biggest themes early on in the investigation for her killer was to keep her story alive, however that might be. One thing I could not help thinking, especially when I read newspaper articles, etc, was that it has been so long, that like time itself her story has slowly faded away. I could not help but think sometimes: "Today is July 30, 2008". And eventually I will fade away too, because there will not be anything else to write about, because I am no closer to solving her case than the pizza guy or the FBI. The only thing that will be left is an old blog that I will not add to in order to keep the focus on Tammy Zywicki. And deep down I realize all of this. Do not think I have not asked myself or guessed that others are asking, "Why does this matter to you?" I start to think that maybe she is like a girl that rejected me in college or something. You don't know when you don't know someone personally. But like a portrait, you learn to see the world from a different perspective, your own. In one of my history books is the following phrase: "Mutatis mutandis..... it is the same in writing and in the visual arts. You learn to discriminate."
That is why I chose Tammy Zywicki's case: because I remembered it. But her story matters for the same reason that Amanda Tusing's and Veronica Blumhorst's do: She was someone's daughter. She was someone's sister. She was someone's best friend.

Tammy Zywicki info

I thought I would leave anyone who happens to read this with the info I had left when it came to Tammy's case. The following are just obscure thoughts, info, that others might be interested in. First, the book I read at the library is called Big Rig Souls. I learned a few things about the trucking industry, such as what an LTL operation is: Less than full truckloads, anything from 200 to 10,000 lb shipments. I also read about a Des Moines truck customizer who adds special features to customize trucks. I thought it might be important since reportly the sheet she was found in was twin size, meaning the sleeping cab this person has might have something special about it. I learned that Kenworth and Peterbilt are considered the "Cadillacs" of the trucking industry. And lastly, I learned that you need to stop at "Port of Entry" into another state.


As for any remaining questions about the case, I wonder about her travels in Spain. The reason is that in Europe and other countries, hitchhiking is not seen as taboo as it is here in the United States. No one is saying she took a ride only considering all possibilities. Spain is known for its nightlife. They have a special term for it that I cannot remember. Which leads to whether or not she had a pen and paper in the car. Imagine for a second you've made dozens of long distance trips to college. I've seen the tow tags on cars while I travel the interstate. The point is that IF she had walked somewhere it makes one wonder why she did not leave a note? I broke down on an expressway and after waiting over an hour for the police to show up I decided to walk(after I saw one of them just drive on by me). I did not have my hood up though although I did have a flat tire on the back drivers side. What I did was leave a note on my car saying I walked to the gas station and could be found there. I did that because I did not want the police tagging my car as an abandoned vehicle and hoped that if they got the note they would drive alongside to pick me up on my way to the gas station. When I finally got back to my car a few hours later the note was still there. The point is that if she did not leave a note she must not have thought she would be gone long. Of course all this is based on an assumption.

When it comes to highway exits, the one she was found at in Missouri is not found on a road map. It is however found on a topographical map. So I wanted to know if there were other county road exits found on a topographical map but not on a basic Missouri road map. I wrote down all the exits found on a topographical map, but not on a good road map. They are exits 22, 33, 61(maybe), 107, 123, 176, 189, 210. Whoever did this had to pass 6 other county road exits. So it comes down to whether there is something special about that exit. OR it is just random. Also, because of all this passing other exits, this person has to have an extreme amount of patience. Even if she is alive, that is still a long way to drive. As for the two main suspects in her case, the one from Peru, IL is dead but you wonder how he got caught for his first crimes. Was it some brilliant detective or forensic evidence that did him in? As for Bruce Mendenhall, you wonder how somebody who is so sloppy could have committed Tammy's murder? It just does not seem like it is the guy. It does not make sense. Tammy's killer seems to be more intelligent and brazen. Even if you consider the person transports Tammy and is confident in their driving ability, you wonder why they would drive that far to prove it? If you get stopped for a speeding ticket or a bad tail light, you will have alot of explaining to do. It would certainly make one nervous.


The sad thing about Tammy's case is that there are so many cases that are so similar, where the victim is just as attractive, sometimes even the circumstances are similar. A girl named Amanda Tusing was driving home from her boyfriends house when she pulled to the side of the road during a rain storm. This happened in northeast Arkansas. Her body was later found in a river near where she had disappeared from the side of the road. There are so many cases where the mystery still remains.


I think what is most interesting about Tammy Zywicki's case is that when they listed the items that were taken one of them included a prized camera she carried around. The serial number of the camera is 2697811 and the serial number of the lens is 1006918 in case anyone comes aross this blog or happens to have that camera. This information can be found in The Chicago Tribune, May 1993 I think. It also lists other items that were not found.

Geographical profiling: Case study-Tammy Zywicki 1992

Tammy Zywicki was a college student from New Jersey who set out for Grinnell College in August 1992. On the last leg of her trip from Northwestern University to Grinnell College her car broke down on I-80 in Illinois at MM83. This happened on Sunday, August 23, 1992. An rust colored striped semi was seen parked near her car. If you want info on the case, a People Weekly article entitled "The Long Road Back" is a good read. It was published August 23, 1993. About 10 days after Tammy disappeared, her body was found at exit 33 (next to the westbound entrance ramp) on I-44 near Sarcoxie, Missouri. According to news reports, her body was wrapped in a blanket sealed on both ends with duct tape. A truck driver said he saw the blanket on Friday, August 28 but did not report because at the time he did not think it looked important. Later, on late tuesday morning, Sept 1st, another trucker pulled to the side of the road after it began to rain. He was concerned that the tools in the back of his truck were getting wet so he wanted to cover them. As he was getting ready to leave he saw the blanket in the grass about 14 feet off the road. As he put it, "Just from the shape of it, I could tell it was a body." He then drove to a nearby highway patrol station and returned to the scene with an officer. Together they cut open the blanket to see a human leg. Since then, her case has remained unsolved.
To date, 2 main suspects have emerged. One was a man from Peru, IL. He was a trucker visiting relatives on August 23rd. He also had a residence in Pierce City, Missouri south of where Tammy Zywicki's body was found. In addition, he had a felony record for armed robbery and was recently released from prison. In January 1993, this man and his wife entered a clinic for medical treatment. The nurse attending remembered seeing the same man helping Tammy along side the road. She became even more concerned when she heard that her husband had given her a watch that played a musical tune called "Raindrops keep falling on my head." Tammy was said to have taken that watch with her but it was never found. This suspect died in June 2002.
The other suspect is also a trucker named Bruce Mendenhall. He is currently being held for the murders of five women from truck stops between Indiana and Georgia. He lived in Albion, IL. and police are currently looking to see if could have been anywhere near Tammy Zywicki on August 23, 1992.
One of the biggest questions I have also wondered about Tammy's case is how whoever took her saw her in time to stop. This was a rape/murder case. The prevailing notion has always been that a good samaritan truck driver stopped to help, then kidnapped Tammy. I just have never been able to stop in time for a pretty girl. By the time I get up to the car to be able to tell if it is a pretty girl, I am upon the car, and then it is too late to stop. There is an overpass near where Tammy's car would have been so one of my possible solutions is that maybe whoever took her saw her from the overpass road then went out to where she was on I-80. Or maybe they passed on I-80 and went back. I keep wondering about the witness too. One time I saw this blonde along side the road a few monthes ago. She was sitting in a pickup and a semi was parked behind her. A man was sitting in the cab. It looked suspicious so I turned around and came back from the opposite direction so I could slow down to get a take of the situation. When I came upon the scene I realized it was the blonde helping the truck driver who had broke down. She was now at his cab talking to him through his window. In addition, this blonde was much older than I originally thought. It made me think back to Tammy's case. I wonder about witnesses travelling 60mph because I can tell you that even when I try to concentrate to get the details right, speed has its way of distorting things.
As for the suspects, I am not going to even discuss Bruce Mendenhall because I would be shocked if he is the killer. The other suspect from Peru actually fits a geographical profile. He has residences near her kidnap site and body site. But I just cannot figure why a felon takes the time to wrap a body as carefully as it sounds like this person did, but then does not take the time to put it in a better place. Not to mention he is an ex-con. I would think you would try to hide the body, hoping that it would not be found for a few weeks, not put it in place where it would almost certainly be seen. Maybe the guy wanted the death penalty? I also cannot get over why he would want to put the trucking industry in a bad light. Highway exits are notorious for truckers parking to sleep for the night.
The prevailing notion has always been that a truck driver committed this crime. I once went on a chat site trying to get truck drivers to talk to me. Nobody would even listen. All I heard was how truck drivers are not bad people, etc. The only piece of advice I got was that she would have to use the bathroom. And I guess that is why I don't believe a rogue truck driver did it. Because they don't believe it. And even though there are bad apples (both the main suspects are truck drivers) I just cannot help but think Tammy's case is not that simple.
But the main item that I cannot get over is all those exits. When it comes to where Tammy's body was found, you can come from the north, the south, or from the east on I-44 itself. And the one thing I cannot get over is all the other places this person could have left her body. From the north, I passed a few creeks. From the south, I got lost in the woods, it is that desolate. From the east on I-44, I drove through central Missouri late at night and thought that it would easy to place a body alongside the roadway even if the semi parked alongside the road. There is a gas station across from where Tammy's body was found. It is a dump now. You wonder if it was always that rundown back in 1992.
I started out believing it was a truck driver. Everytime I see a suspicious semi I think about the Tammy Zywicki case. I've also thought maybe she walked along the interstate or went to a hotel where then something happened but if there is one thing I am sure of after changing from one suspicion to the next, it is that her killer has to be from Illinois. Most kidnappers only take their victims as far as the resistance they receive from them. As of right now, I think the Peru Illinois suspect will end up being the right guy. I just keep thinking it is not him though.

I decided that even though I might never know about Tammy Zywicki's killer, maybe I could at least read about truck driving. So I took out this book at the library and inside I found a quote from Aristotle: "All men by nature desire to know." I guess that is what I want to know, whether or not I am right.
I think the only way Tammy's case will be solved is through a confession. I have a feeling the person is more complex than the FBI and IL. St. Police have made him out to be. And I have a feeling he is not the crazed serial killer that many people thought at the beginning of the investigation. I believe, maybe wrongly, that most people are not all bad. I can understand though how difficult it must be to work on Tammy's case. It is a hard case to solve.