Tammy Zywicki case remains unsolved after 32 years, but DNA could revive investigation – Shaw Local

Thirty-two years have passed since the disappearance and death of Tammy Jo Zywicki, an Iowa college student who was last seen after her car broke down on Interstate 80 near La Salle, and her case remains unsolved.

But Tammy's friends, family and community have never stopped advocating for her in the hope of giving her case a new direction, and her brother said that technological developments have allowed authorities to reopen the case.

Todd Zywicki, Tammy's oldest brother, said the Illinois State Police and the FBI have not let the case go and have continued to investigate it over the years.

He said that due to advances in DNA technology, police had managed to recover a lot of DNA that they had previously considered unusable.

“I've heard that they were able to get a usable sample from it,” he said. “And they're pursuing leads based on that. So that's encouraging.”

The Illinois State Police responded to a request for comment on the case and the DNA evidence by saying the investigation is ongoing and no further information is available at this time.

Tammy, who grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, was killed on August 23, 1992, after dropping off her brother in Evanston and heading to college in Grinnell, Iowa.

Nine days later, her body was found along Interstate 44 in rural Lawrence County, Missouri, between Springfield and Joplin. She had been stabbed to death.

Some of her personal items were never recovered, the FBI website says, including a Cannon 35mm camera and a Lorus brand wristwatch. The watch face featured a green umbrella and the green strap played the tune “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head.”

According to police, a semi-truck and its driver were spotted near Tammy's car between 3:10 p.m. and 4 p.m. on August 23. The driver of the semi-truck was described as a white male with dark, bushy hair, between 35 and 40 years old and over 6 feet tall.

However, more recent research, such as the Paper Ghosts podcast, has found that Tammy may have been abducted by an authority figure—someone she may have trusted and willingly got into a car with if that person stopped to help her.

In 2015, it was reported that the Philadelphia-based Vidocq Society, a pro bono agency that assists law enforcement agencies in solving unsolved murder cases, was taking up the case.

The Shaw Local News Network sent a freedom of information request to the state police in June, requesting disclosure of the information it had shared with the company.

State police responded with the following: “ISP is still actively investigating the pending lab results from the FBI, ISP and private labs in this case. Additional investigative tasks may be conducted based on the pending lab results. Releasing the information at this time could jeopardize the investigation. ISP continues to analyze evidence and prepare reports.”

Years passed without any new clues until authorities in Iowa arrested a truck driver in May 2020 who was involved in the murder of three women in the 1990s and may have been responsible for other homicides.

According to news reports at the time, the Illinois State Police released the following statement a day later: “At this time [he] does not appear to have been involved in the murder of Tammy Zywicki, who was kidnapped and murdered by an unknown assailant in August 1992 after her car broke down off I-80 near La Salle, Illinois.”

“Someone, somewhere, knows something,” said Maryanne Fox, Tammy Zywicki's childhood friend. “So it's just a matter of reaching out to those people and pulling their strings.”

Fox said the focus has shifted over the past year. By continuing to keep Tammy's name secret, it will not only encourage people to come forward with new information, but will also raise awareness among kids in high school who may be going on to college.

“I think it's about awareness,” she said. “Young college students, high school students: There are monsters out there everywhere and you have to be aware of your surroundings.”

“It's much better in today's society because we have all these electronic devices and cameras and ways to get help that didn't exist back then. But I wanted to show people that Tammy would have had a successful life, loved by almost everyone who knew her. She had goals.”

Dean Zywicki, another of Tammy's older brothers, said he wanted his sister to be remembered for the connections she made with people from all walks of life.

“She was just very kind to people,” he said. “She had different connections with different people through her different interests, whether it was football or photography or just trying to help.”

Anyone with information related to the Zywicki investigation is asked to call the Illinois State Police Criminal Investigation Division, Zone 3, at 815-726-6377 or the FBI's Chicago Field Division at 312-421-6700. Callers may remain anonymous.