54 Responses to Tammy Zywicki

  1. Elle says:

    After watching the People’s airing of this case, Tammy, why don’t they pursue the genealogy route w that DNA they finally lifted off her clothing? Many murders are solved now by hiring a Genealogist to track a family start then begin narrowing it down. Just a thought. They family deserves closure.

  2. Tom says:

    I was watching today program and was worry why no body try looking firmy camera of Tammy should be exoensive and maybe killer try selling

  3. Pam says:

    Type of truck displayed in 1971?

  4. Stay Strong! says:

    I’d recommend watching the People Magazine Investigates episode on Tammy’s case. It was a good and informative watch,

    All signs sure point to Lonnie Bierbrodt it appears from my perspective. The authorities did render an opinion on him and a few others. I want to spoil for anybody who plans on watching the segment.

  5. Patrick Kerrigan says:

    In regards to the suggestion of Timothy Jay Vafeades being involved. It appears that he kept his victims captive. Lonnie Bierbodt, makes a better suspect, for the following reasons:

    He lived close to where her body was found. He was visiting family, who lived close to where she first disappeared. The blanket she was wrapped up in had a Kenworth logo on it. He drove a Kenworth truck. Also, the musical watch. Also, he sold his truck within days of her being found.

    However, all this is circumstantial evidence. It appears that the authorities most likely did not handle the processing of evidence properly. The processing of the crime scene is very important, this includes maintaining a proper chain of custody, as it is passed along to crime labs.

    The two guys caught and charged in the kidnapping and murder of Bobby Frank’s, in 1920’s Chicago, were caught because of a pair of eyeglasses found where his body was dumped. It turned the eyeglass frame was something new from the eyeglass company Almer & Coe. It turned only three people in the Chicago area, had eyeglasses with those new frames.

    Also, Colonel Goddard, MD, U.S. Army Reserve, was brought in by Cook County Coroner Jury, to process the St. Valentine Day massacre. He found that two Thompson sub machine guns had been used. One had a 50 round drum magazine and the other had a straight 20 round magazine.

    Both weapons were found in the residence of Fred “Killer” Burke, in St. Joseph. He also shot and killed a policeman, who was assigned to investigate a vehicle accident Burke was involved in.

  6. C. Combs says:

    Now that CeCe Moore has been able to solve multiple cases through dna from crime scenes, we have new methods and connections beyond codis. If the FBI lost tge dna, they can still submit the blanket she was wrapped in to get dna from the killer. Contact Ce Ce Moore. The dna can be pulled from the blanket and then uploaded to Gedmatch to identify the killer’s relatives and narrow it down to the one.

  7. Bill Green says:

    Clark Perry Baldwin just arrested for 1991 and 1992 murders in Wyoming and Tennessee. A long-haul trucker from Iowa. Any chance he’s the man?
    https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/authorities-arrest-waterloo-man-in-connection-to-wyoming-cold-case-murders/article_3a0049bc-677e-54bf-b7a3-a07b1248a400.html

    • Ash says:

      I think there is a possibility! The timing is right and everything. The only issue I saw with it was the manner of death between Tammy and the women Dennis killed.

    • MikeD says:

      Illinois police have since stated that he isn’t a suspect in the Tammy Zywicki case. Considering how many details are similar to other cases that Clark Perry Baldwin is a suspect in you would think they wouldn’t dismiss the idea so easy. They must have some evidence that clearly points to someone else.

  8. Adam says:

    Is there anything official that is documented publicly that shows that authorities mishandled the DNA or have a poor unusable sample? I see comments mentioning it, but nothing to back it up. I guess it’s possible they don’t have any DNA from Bierbodt to compare it to. Maybe this will be yet another one of those cases solved when a family member does one of those ancestry DNA tests, inadvertently connecting the dots.

  9. Carolyn Betts says:

    Never forget. Awakened with Tammy on my mind. Read her story. All these years, She is on my mind and on my ❤. Praying for you and your family.

  10. Patrick Kerrigan says:

    We have many cases over the years that have never been handld properly considering all the available forensic tools. But, we have missing person’s cases, where the agency tossed the reports or never took a report. So, law enforcement has a black eye in many of these cases.

    However, the FBI should have been involved from the beginning. She was last seen in Illinois, and was found murdered in Missouri. They hopefully would have processed the vehicle and the crime scene.

  11. Jean Williams says:

    Could this be another victim of Jesperson? I believe the timing is right and he bound other victims with duct tape. I believe his full name is Keith Hunter Jesperson and he is currently in the Utah prison system serving multiple life sentences.

  12. john says:

    i was around the same age as tammy and remember seeing the news stories when she first went missing and it scared me to death as a young man i have since gotten into law enforcement and left it mainly because of what happened in tammy’s case a lack of seriousness about cases cops seem to feel they don’t need to be very thorough in missing investigations because a lot turn up alive and cops feel this is a waist of time she with a boyfriend or had a fight with the family and so special care is not taken and extra steps are no taken in the initial investigation but once the scene is cleared and other people are allowed back in the scene is contaminated and any evidence that wasn’t collected is lost for life i have followed this case and is saddened that this young bright girl who was trying to go to school to get a college education was so salvagerly murdured with overkill and her dad has now passed away not never finding out who murdered his daughter i can’t believe dna has solved this case which tells me that A either none was collected or B the real killer has high up connections and evidence was lost on purpose there should have been a ton of evidence to link some one the guy more than likely touched her car to pretend to want to help, fiber sand hair from his clothing should have transfered to the blanket as he was carrying her to the dump area all log sheets for truckers traveling through that area should have been looked into for missing time unaccounted for or being late on deliveries so being a former cop this reaks of a family member or friend of a high ranking law enforcement official in that area who was able to infirtrate the investigation and lose or alter evidence you would to almost have a PHD in forensics to be able to avoid leaving tons of evidence behind and WERE TALKING 1992 none of the forensics shows were really on tv to educate the public on how evidence left behind in a crime scene can connect someone why wasn’t there pubic hair transfers even if a condom is used, why wasn’t there hair transfer,to the blanket she was carried in SOMETHINGS NOT RIGHT HERE,if it was a ordinary trucker your telling me he is that edept in forensics that he didn’t leave no evidence behind i don;t buy it the only other possible thing that could have happen is that when a case becomes real big some cops or forensics take evidence home and keep it as a souvernier to show friends a family later of a big case they were involved in which is bad

  13. Stephen Devine says:

    I am a retired Illinois State Trooper and worked in District 21 Ashkum at the time.I was not involved in the investigation, however,I do feel it was a case that should have been solved.Sunday, new week, possible tollway video and toll booth on I-80 and location of her recovered vehicle. These factors alone would lead me to believe the route taken by the offender was I-80 to Rt. 59 south to I-55 in Bloomington to I-44 St. Louis and southwest to location where victim found. A large number of truck stop on the route. I don’t know anything about the specific of the case at the time, however a major aggressive in investigation by FBI, Illinois,and Missouri State Police manpower I think would have solved the case.

  14. Remember when this happened. So sad no one has come forth with information about it.

  15. Diana Wilson says:

    Someone got away with murder. Wonder if that person has committed more? God be with the family.

  16. I pray for justice for the family and friends. My heart and thoughts are with the family. God be with them.

  17. Mary Ruge says:

    Matt, you should have gone into law enforcement or a similar profession!

  18. Matt Dominguez says:

    I dont know why I still remeber this happening. I was 9 years old living in Sauk Village Illinois when this happend. I remember the semitruck reported on tv. I used to look for that truck. RIP, I hope the family finds closure.

  19. Javier Escobar says:

    I hope I live to see who this worthless poor excuse of a human being. . I hope he gets caned once a month up to his execution. .

  20. so sad because there is no closure for her friends or family.

  21. Joan Thier says:

    I remember this story when I was kid

  22. Cindy Bates says:

    Why dont they get a writ or whatever is needed and exhume Lonnie Bierbrodt for DNA.

  23. Tina Carroll says:

    poor baby girl… investigators are still working on the loss of your life. you have not been forgotten.

  24. Karen Cox Kittell says:

    I remember this case and think about this young girl. It was this tragic event that prompted me to get a cell phone. I hope this is solved

  25. Judith Paez says:

    Shame on you law-enforcement not doing at work !!

  26. I remember this. Very sad

  27. I remember hearing about this like it was yesterday! Can’t believe it’s been this long!

  28. Someone somewhere knows something. How can they live with themselves?

  29. Kris Starks says:

    This is THE ONE that haunts me to this day!!

  30. Erin Woolsey says:

    I remember that, how sad for her family.

  31. S. says:

    Lonnie Bierbrodt also allegedly had his truck – quite similar to the truck seen by the witness when they went past Tammy’s car – steam cleaned and sold several days after the murder. The small DNA sample of her clothing was too poor and small when it was retested in 2004.

  32. Javier Escobar says:

    Tammy Zywicki cold case

  33. Allen says:

    The fact that DNA was taken from Lonnie Bierbrodt was no help at all, as the detectives had no DNA to match it to. The whole crime scene was botched from the beginning. They didn’t even search for evidence for 3 days after her body was found. Her car was dusted for prints but, so many people had been inside and touched just about everything, no prints could be matched. She was found wearing clothing, she would not have picked out for herself. She was stabbed with something like a pen knife. No weapon was ever found. Poor Tammy suffered a slow death of internal bleeding. Interesting fact that, when Bierbrodt’s wife came with him fro questioning, she pointed out a watch he gave her that, played “Raindrops keep falling on my head”. That was the exact watch that was missing from Tammy, that she owned. There’s no doubt that L. Bierbrodt was the killer. A nurse that saw him clearly helping Tammy with her car, identified him. I believe that the Illinois investigators are not disclosing vital information. Their reason, I believe, is that Brierbrodt died from AIDS and they just don’t care anymore. Pressure needs to be put on them so, the Zywicki family can have closure, even if the guy is dead.

  34. Zoila MasHermosa says:

    Timothy Jay Vafeades HE MIGHT BE THE ONE ….sounds right…fits his profile…and he was a trucker …i be dammned if he had nothing to do with it.

  35. gerry says:

    From what I can recall reading elsewhere, Bierbodt’s family refused to provide authorities with a DNA sample when Bierbodt died. He was and remains the best suspect in this young woman’s murder.

  36. Abraham says:

    Did the DNA match this Lonnie Bierbodt? Why did FBI agent Martin McCarthy say he should have been arrested unless it matched? I know they came out with DNA around 1986 so surely they had it in 1993 when Bierbodt was questioned. I’m not sure when they developed CODIS but I wonder if they ever ran the DNA through that program after they started it. I live near intersate 80 were this happened and I remember it on the news. I remember fealling so sorry for that poor little girl and her family. I just dont understand why GOD allows such unjust things like this to happen. If I remember right the news said it was the first time her parents let her drive back to collage on her own. Normally they drove her back and then something like this happens. I remember reading articals about a trucker that use to go to a certain restuarant in Missouri and sit in the same booth time after time and just sit and stare at the spot accross the street where they found Tammys body. Yes I remember feeling so bad about Tammy that at the time I was hopeing they would catch whoever did it. It still bothers me to this day 20 years latter. I guess thats why I did a search today on Tammy just to see if they ever caught anyone. I just wonder if that trucker that use to sit at the reasturant was Lonnie Bierbodt? I wish they would run the DNA through CODIS just to see what happens.

    • Martin M cCarthy says:

      Abraham, FBI either lost or misplaced DNA, it was a very small sample anyway. There is a way to prove Bierbrodt gave Tammy’s watch to his wife. Both witness and wife alive. Grand Jury could solve this problem. Why hasn’t it?

  37. Mary George says:

    Has DNA been taken from belongings of Lonnie Bierbodt even though he died in 2002.My husband and I think the authorities should pursue the DNA angle.

  38. catharine phillips says:

    |main5|dl2|sec3_lnk1|96614

    Please read the attached link which I read via aol. Perhaps Boyer is worth looking into. Was Bierbolt ever connected to the Zywicki case with DNA??

  39. Kevin says:

    What about Clyde Wilkerson from Benton, Arkansas He’s in prison on other murders. Was a trucker.

  40. Chris says:

    It’s amazing this is still considered cold. Was blanket DNA ever compared to what DNA was gotten from the trucker, Bierbodt?

  41. HollyD says:

    I too thought of Keith Jesperson – have you seen his mug shot? 6’6″ with dark bushy hair. Have they checked him out? He has victims (according to him) that have not been identified.

  42. Minnow says:

    What about Keith Jeeperson? I saw him on Kids of Killers and thought of Tammy.

    • anniefauxkley says:

      I agree my immediate first thought after reading the description was Jesperson.

      • anniefauxkley says:

        But I do think it was Bierbrodt. The watch given to his wife and his locations during the crime aren’t just coincidences…

Comment Policy

We encourage thoughtful discussion here but ask that comments remain civilized and constructive … i.e. without personal attacks or name-calling. Be respectful of others and remember that victims' family members visit these pages, too. If you'd like to provide us with information regarding a suspect or have other sensitive details to relay, please email us directly. Thank you in advance.

Leave a Reply to AdamCancel reply