LA SALLE, Ill. — On the 25th anniversary of the tragic kidnapping and murder of Grinnell College student Tammy Zywicki, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to any suspects in the crime.
Zywicki, 21, was traveling to Grinnell from her New Jersey home when her 1985 Pontiac T1000 broke down along U.S. Interstate 80 near La Salle in central Illinois. She was last seen alive Aug. 23, 1992, by passing motorists.
Witnesses said a semi-tractor trailer or pickup was seen parked behind her vehicle.
Nine days later, Zywicki’s body, stabbed and possibly strangled, was found wrapped in a sheet and blanket and bound in duct tape — nearly 500 miles away near Joplin, Mo.
In the wake of the murder, the Illinois State Police formed a special task force with the FBI and other agencies, but it disbanded the next year. Illinois and federal investigators this week said the investigation is still active, and they are looking to advances in DNA technology to assist them.
“I’m hopeful this new technology will help us,” said Illinois State Police Lt. Jeff Padilla. “I am convinced the DNA and the suspect are in the case file. It’s just a question of finding them.”
Efforts over the past 20 years to crack the case have stalled. 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.
“There continues to be a $50,000 reward offered in this case,” said Amanda Becker, special agent in the Chicagio Division of the FBI. “Even after 25 years, a concerned citizen doing the right thing can help us solve this case.”
