Tammy Zywicki, 21, was found dead in Missouri nine days after she went missing in 1992
The day before the 25th anniversary of the kidnapping and murder of Tammy Zywicki, the FBI announced a $50,000 reward for help solving the case and are retesting evidence with modern DNA technology.
Tammy Zywick, a 21-year-old college student, disappeared while driving from her New Jersey home to Iowa’s Grinnell College for her senior year of school.
She was last seen alive on August 23, 1992 in LaSalle County, between 3.10pm and 4pm on Aug. 23, 1992.
She had dropped off her younger brother at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and then headed to Iowa. She was expected to arrive that night.
Her car, a 1985 white Pontiac T1000, was found by an Illinois State Police trooper and marked as abandoned.
The next day, her mother called ISP to tell them her daughter had not arrived at college.
Tammy’s body was found wrapped in a blanket and duct tape on September 1, 1992 in southwestern Missouri. She had been stabbed eight times and sexually assaulted.
A passer-by reported catching the last glimpses of Zywicki near her disabled car. Some witnesses said a tractor-trailer was seen parked behind her vehicle, while others say they saw a pickup truck.
After her body was found, Illinois State Police joined forces with the FBI and other agencies in a task force, but it disbanded the next year. On Tuesday, Illinois and federal investigators said the investigation was still active.
25 years later, authorities are stilling looking for leads on who killed Tammy Zywick
Her abandoned car, a 1985 white Pontiac T1000, was found by Illinois State Police
The FBI is offering a reward of up to $50,000 leading to the identification of Tammy’s murderer
Over the past two decades, efforts to crack the case have sputtered. Investigators looked at truckers suspected in killings and sexual attacks elsewhere, from North Carolina to California, but eventually eliminated them from suspicion in Zywicki’s death.
The FBI and state police are exploring new leads, examining 200 items of evidence and retesting items with modern DNA technology, according to a news release from state police Tuesday.
Some of Tammy’s personal property was taken and never recovered, including a Canon 35 mm camera, a Lorus brand musical wristwatch that played the tune ‘Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head’ with a green band and a green umbrella on its face, and a red and white soccer patch monogrammed with ‘St. Giles Soccer Club, Greenville, South Carolina.’
The FBI is examining 200 items of evidence trying to find new leads in Tammy’s disappearance
This soccer patch was taken from Tammy and never recovered