The First 7 Months: August 23, 2003 - March 2004

I will try and keep my story about Tammy Zywicki and how I investigated her case.  There are times where it will probably sway away from Tammy, but I will do my best to get back on track.  

I need to correct something from an earlier post a few days ago.  Thinking back I remember I decided to look at Tammy Zywicki's case from the perspective of it NOT being a truck driver.  But I always considered the truck driver theory a good one because it makes sense.   

So Tammy Zywicki's case investigation basically started for me on Saturday, August 23, 2003.  All I saw when I went out there was the 83 mile marker.  Next to the side of the highway is a large grassy area bordered by some small trees and a small fence.  Across the way was a farm house with a pickup truck in the driveway.  I wondered if maybe Tammy had somehow walked to this house asking for help or to use the phone?  It is said that numerous people stopped to help her, but none had a phone and she decided not to take a ride with any of these people. 

I spent hours looking up the logo from the semi truck reportedly parked near Tammy Zywicki's car.  If only I could find that logo it would lead to the trucking company which would lead to the murderer.  That was easier said than done.  I wrote a few letters to the FBI anonymously until I realized that I am going to be applying anyway so I might well just send the letters with my name and address.  I even sent a letter to Illnois State police about the guy in the farmhouse because there is an overpass very near to the 83 mile marker.  Maybe he saw something that day when driving or maybe he was involved?  I probably would not send these letters today as I would assume that after over 11 years police would have already thought of these ideas. But during those first 6 months of my "investigation" I was consumed with looking at trucking logos or any logo really that might match the one from the semi parked near Tammy's car.

I was close to having enough of Tammy Zywicki's case after only 6 months.  I sent what I thought was my final letter to the FBI in March 2004 and decided the case was over.  It was probably a truck driver, but I was not convinced of it.  I had looked so intently at Tammy Zywicki's case that I even had a dream I thought might be related to it.  

But lets discuss why I thought it might not be a truck driver.  It had to do with location and circumstances.  Nobody knew Tammy Zywicki's car was going to break down that afternoon on August 23rd, 1992.  Tammy's body was found near the town of Sarcoxie, MO in southwest Missouri.  If a truck driver had been driving a route that day to Missouri and he was traveling westbound, I think he would have taken I-55 through Illnois.  But where Tammy broke down is closer to I-39.  Of course I know truck drivers go various places, but it is hard to believe anyone would continue to make stops with a kidnapping victim in their cab.  Again, the Lasalle/Peru suspect makes sense until you consider something else.  She had on different clothes from what she was last wearing.  It might seem like it takes a long time to drive from mile marker 83 near Utica, Illinois to Exit 33 in Sarcoxie, MO, but it can be done in a day even leaving in the mid afternoon.  And supposedly this man's wife was home.  Maybe he decided to drive to his place in Sarcoxie, MO with Tammy?  But then why wrap her body and take it back out to the highway exit, which was actually an entrance ramp to go further westbound away from Sarcoxie, MO towards Oklahoma.  

Then there were the eyewitness statements.  If a semi had been parked behind Tammy Zywicki's car and the hood of Tammy's car was up, it would take one heck of an eyewitness to make a positive ID.  If a witness had been traveling eastbound, then it would be very difficult to try and get a good glimse of her alongside the road.  But at least eastbound makes some sense.  Take your eyes of the road and you can start drifting.  If you really think about it, try looking away from the road for 3 seconds or more to see something or someone alongside the road on the other side.  It can be done going slow, but at 70 mph first you have to find your object and then try focusing on it to remember.

After about 6 months of looking at logos and writing letters, I realized it was going nowhere.  Around this time in March 2004 and for the next few years, I focused on hobbies and activities, but gained an appreciation for true crime.  Many of the first crimes shows on Court TV like Forensic Files came out during this time.  I figured it was better to try and actually learn a little bit more about crime than just trying to be my own detective.  I bought some books on true crime and started expanding my blog to more than just the Tammy Zywicki case.  

But I am not going to stray off point again, although from time to time I may title a post revisiting another case.  Not now though.  I want to keep the focus on Tammy Zywicki.