March 15, 2023 • 33 mins
A bombshell revelation upends long held speculation about Tammy’s killer, as the most promising suspect yet is revealed. Phelps discusses everything he’s learned about Tammy’s case thus far, and explains why an arrest could be imminent. Plus, Tammy’s friends and loved ones reflect on the significance of 30 years after her murder, and share what they think she’d be doing today.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Paper Ghosts is a production of iHeartRadio previously on Paper Ghosts.
So they come to you and you give them the
ok to consume that DNA. I first called Joanne and
we have this discussion about this is our one shot.
You know, we may not get it again if we
(00:21):
agree to do this. She was in complete agreement and said,
we've got to do what we've got to do. In
the process of our analysis of the physical evidence using
more modern DNA tests, the shoelaces were of tremendous interest
to us. A couple of local FBI agents came to
my house and took a DNA swab for me. They
(00:43):
apparently have found mail DNA that they can use. Obviously
they have something that they're processing. My name isem William Phelps.
I'm an investigative journalist, the author more than forty true
crime books. This is season three of Paper Ghosts in
Plain Sight. Over the course of my investigation into Tammy
(01:11):
Ziwiki's murder, I kept coming back to one word trust.
From the beginning. Everything in Tammy's case, the crime scene
on I eighty, the time of day, a highway full
of witnesses, just about everything pointed to one conclusion, Tammy
(01:35):
trusted her killer enough to willingly accept a ride. I
think she trusted somebody and took a ride or whatever,
and then it went off the rails from there. I
don't know if it would be a serial killer. It
could be just a random, one time event. You know,
the opportunity was there, they took her. I believe her
(01:55):
murderer posed as a good samaritan, pulled over under the
guy eyes of offering help, and he probably offered her
a ride. So many of the people interviewed for this
podcast agreed that on the surface, whoever abducted and murdered
Tammy did not ostensibly pose a threat, and despite what
(02:17):
early witness statements and the media seemed to imply, I'm
convinced this person was not a trucker. I believe that
she was dumped across the state to draw interest away
from where she was picked up, and I believe that
that's because that area has a connection to her killer.
(02:39):
And I really believe that the case was getting national news,
it was getting a lot of attention, and I think
that the body was left so that we would find it.
It could have been dumped in a far more remote,
discreete area. If you're a trucker, you know where people
are not going to be. You know there are places
(03:01):
that are deserted. And while it wasn't left in the
middle of the road, it was left in a place
where it was going to be found. And I think
that that was on purpose, so that we would look
in Missouri and stop looking in Illinois. Tammy's friends Stacy
Pappus states perfectly what I have come to believe over
(03:23):
the past year that Tammy's killer likely acted on an
opportunity and abducted her at random, but had certainly thought
things out meticulously afterwards. Like Stacy, I believe his movements
after Tammy's death were calculated and meant to distract, and
(03:44):
he knew a thing or two about where to dump
a body. Here's Tammy's best friend, Jen Nelson. I think
it's hard to imagine a monster who would abduct a
young woman, kill them and only do that once in
their life. No, I think it's a monster who was
(04:05):
out there and was going to hurt somebody else. There
are so many different ways that life in nineteen ninety
two were different than today that it sometimes makes it
hard for listeners to imagine how did this happen. Why
did this happen? You know, well, why didn't she do
this or that? And you have to really put yourself
back into nineteen ninety two to have a better grasp of,
(04:30):
you know, what she was thinking, what she was feeling,
what the investigators were doing to try to investigate this case.
Brian town is a special prosecutor for the State of Illinois.
Prior to that, he was the state's attorney for LaSalle
County from two thousand and six two sixteen and the
(04:51):
assistant state's attorney in nineteen ninety two when Tammy went missing.
I mean, I say this all the time that you
can't look at a nineteen ninety two case through a
contemporary lens or an emotional feeling of what's going on today.
But subconsciously you do unless you're conscious of the fact
that you shouldn't exactly right. It's all about, you know,
(05:15):
the era. And I certainly wouldn't call this a cold case,
but in virtually every cold case in the United States
of America, that's the first and sometimes most difficult hurdle
for an investigation is to say, Okay, I've got to
get back to nineteen fifty six or nineteen seventy three
or whatever year we're talking about. And I've got to
(05:36):
think like they thought then and try to have that perspective.
Otherwise it's going to be a difficult investigation. If she
felt any discomfort from a truck driver, she could easily
ran into those corn fields. I mean, you run into
one of those corn fields right there, you're gone. You're hiding. Yeah.
Being a Midwest guy, I can tell you that in August,
(05:59):
the corn is pretty high, and absolutely she could have
very easily escaped any kind of attacker. And I eighty
in that particular area of that corridor is wide open.
There might be some fences, but certainly I think she
would would have been able to escape if she had
felt threatened or if someone was trying to abduct her.
(06:24):
It's a thought that haunts me. Tammy was abducted from
a busy highway in Illinois in broad daylight on a
hot afternoon in August nineteen ninety two. A flood of
tips led law enforcement to search for a trucker a
connection with her disappearance. It was even a composite of
(06:45):
an eighteen wheeler with two stripes released. Tammy's body was
found nine days later in Missouri, just fifteen feet off
the shoulder of an exit ramp frequented by truckers, which
begs the question did her are capitalized on the frenzied
search for a trucker. Here's former IP Lieutenant Jeff Paedia.
(07:10):
One of the things that led to the overall truck
driver theme was the fact that the betting that she
was wrapped in would have fit the betting in the
back of a sleeper birth. That doesn't mean it was
from a sleeper birth, and that doesn't mean that that
betting wasn't just bought at a Walmart or any other
store along the way. And so, you know, that's I think,
(07:31):
sort of a good lesson about jumping to conclusions. You know,
you have, all right, it fits the betting that she's
wrapped in fits a sleeper birth. That doesn't mean that
it was a truck And then it, particularly as a supervisor,
you start saying something like that, or you even voice that, oh,
it must have been a truck driver. Every one of
your detectives then is focused on truck drivers. And that's
the last thing we wanted, you know, because we did
(07:53):
have other information out there. And then you know, you
want to keep all things open. I've said it all along.
There's been an element of tunnel vision that, in my view,
hindered progress in the investigation, at least in the early days.
And as the saying goes, if you don't change the
(08:15):
way you look at things, the things you look at
will not change. So if I shift my focus from
truck driver to someone Tammy could have trusted, a new
pool of potential suspects opens up. We always struggled with
the idea of, you know, the couple things somebody in
(08:37):
a position of authority, or somebody right at her age
that she may have known. Like, we had the idea
that we thought that there was a possibility that the
actual offender was another Grinnell College male student, because she
(08:58):
would have to have recognized, you know, like, oh, I
recognize you from campus, aren't you? You know? Or you
have somebody with a badge in a uniform that they're like,
come on, i'll hop in, I'll give you a ride,
and then she would feel comfortable with that. Law enforcement
followed that threat, but there was no evidence to support
(09:18):
a fellow Grinnell's students involvement, or any student for that matter.
So then if you apply the logic that Tammy instinctively
trusted a stranger, you could draw the conclusion that this
person was someone in a position of authority. If you
(09:39):
recall from an earlier episode, Tammy's car was found locked
on the shoulder of the interstate. There was no sign
of a struggle in or around the vehicle. Her purse,
along with her I D were not in the car,
So it seems that when her abductor arrived to offer help,
Tammy felt at ease, took her bag and left willingly
(10:00):
with that person. It's a point I brought up with
Jeff Hanford, a former ISP officer who worked on Tammy's case.
You know, I mean, in my talks that I gave
after this, I would tell them I wouldn't accept any
help from anybody who is not a uniform policeman. I said,
because I know how you know what they're going to
(10:22):
do for you. They're going to call you a tow
truck that's on a list that's been vetted. You said,
uniform policeman. Why only uniform policemen. People are impersonating policeman,
aren't going to be in a marked car with a uniform,
and they're just not. It's too much, it's too dangerous.
You know, it's too easy to get caught. Nowadays, they'll
(10:44):
see county deputies out there quite a bit too. I've
noticed that, so you know, I've been a uniform police
officer in a mark squad car. That's what you want,
that's the ultimate, because you'll be out of there in
twenty minutes. Law enforcement received countless tips from motorists about
the day Tammy went missing, and looking at an ISP
handwritten witness tipsheet and time sequence report, I didn't see
(11:08):
any indication of a marked or unmarked police vehicle stopping
to help. Then again, if people driving on the interstate
saw a police vehicle park next to a stalled car,
I think there would be relief, no cause for alarm,
and no reason to report it. In my view, it's
(11:33):
safe to assume there was something about the person who
pulled over that put Tammy at ease, the collar of
a clergyman, perhaps maybe an elderly man, or someone with
a badge. Tammy was tough. Tammy grew up with three brothers.
(11:56):
Tammy wasn't naive. But if a guy shows up in
a collar, or a guy shows up with a badge,
she's going with him. Sure, I agree with you, And
that kind of dovetails in perfectly with the fact that
Tammy's family firmly believes that she never would have gotten
into a semi truck with a truck driver that you know,
she didn't know and had no connection to nineteen ninety two.
(12:19):
It was a different era, as a different time. You know,
a young lady, college bound or somewhat college educated or
getting her education would have trusted police and would have,
when stranded on the side of a busy road, happily
gotten into a squad car with someone in a position
of authority. The possibility that a man in uniform was
(12:42):
responsible for Tammy's a Wiki's abduction and murder is a
theory I've been pursuing since I learned from someone deeply
connected to the case that, as of early twenty twenty two,
the prime suspect law enforcement has been zeroing in on
is a former police officer Waitnia from the slum. In
(13:25):
the days and weeks after I learned that a former
police officer was now the prime suspect and Tammy's a
Wiki's abduction and murder, the puzzle pieces in this case
began to fall into place. My source, who was asked
to remain anonymous, told me this officer has been on
(13:46):
law enforcement's radar since the earliest days of the investigation,
and he remains at the center of the latest inquiries today.
I worked for months to back up this information and
aid carefully whether to include it in the podcast. In
the end, I was told that including this detail would
(14:08):
not hinder the act of investigation. An accusation against a
member of law enforcement isn't an easy one to make
or prove. Investigators didn't want to tip off a potential
suspect too early, which, for reasons I now understand, is
why for many decades it was imperative that any word
(14:30):
about the suspect stay out of the press. And in
thinking about this suspect, it makes a little more sense
now why it felt as if someone was mucking around
with the case in the beginning of the investigation. It
could also be the reason why the IP dissolved the
task force after just six months. Was it because they
(14:54):
thought one of their own could be responsible. What's even
more alarming is what I heard in early twenty twenty three,
I met with another law enforcement source who confirmed the
cops suspect theory. That source told me this suspect had
(15:15):
taken two previously unplanned days off from work after Tammy
was abducted, which could account for a lot of unanswered questions,
most importantly why her body was found five hundred miles away.
It's a point I brought up with Jeff Padilla. There's
(15:39):
so much land out there to dump a body that
no one would ever find. And if I'm familiar with it,
the land, why put her on the side of the
road exactly exactly? And typically we know, you know from
my experience, a body dump is meant to create time
and distance between the offender and the victim. You know now,
(16:00):
now that lends credence to some of those other theories.
You know, why would somebody want to create time and
distance between them and Tammy? Many serial killers I have
interviewed have told me that the more distance they put
between themselves and their victims, the better the chances are
of never being connected to that victim. The fact that
(16:21):
Tammy was missing for nine days and then found alongside
a busy exit ramp in a neighboring state tells me
her killer was well aware of this concept. If I'm
a cop in Illinois. The last thing I'd want is
for one of my colleagues to find her body another state,
(16:41):
another jurisdiction. So here's a theory, right, So she's abducted,
the call goes out and everyone's looking for an eighteen
wheel or truck driver, right right. Nine days pass, and
she's dumped by a truck stop. Yep, because everybody thought
(17:02):
it was you know, everybody believed it was a truck driver.
So why not make it look like it was a
truck driver, right right, and going buy the betting that
fits the size of a truck birth. An important point
to factor into the trucker theory is how easy it
would have been for a truck driver to dump Tammy's
(17:25):
body anywhere else but where she was found. Consider the
typical over the road trucker who spends days traversing the country.
If he's holding onto the body for nine days, he
might as well have driven to Washington State and dumped
her there. But to travel five hundred miles and then
dump her out in the open, it defies logic, even
(17:47):
for a psychopath. If I'm the offender and I'm the
truck driver, and for whatever reason, she gets in the
truck with me. I've got her, I'm going to take
care of business. And then when she dies straight down
I eighty, I just pull over, wait for nobody's coming by,
pull her body out, and dump her in the ditch.
(18:09):
My second source told me that a search warrant was
conducted on the police officer's home in nineteen ninety three,
and during that search, many items of interest were found,
including an old mattress in his basement and other items
that made it quote appear as though someone was being restrained.
(18:30):
The mattress, I'm told was dirty and had been recently
slept on, and had stains that appeared to resemble blood.
Could the mattress be the piece of evidence investigators were
able to recently extract DNA from test and build a
profile off of Many of those involved in the investigation
(18:51):
have agreed on the theory that Tammy was restrained and
held hostage for the period of time she was missing.
As I was speaking to Jeff Padilla about the case
in general, I slipped in a question about this. Part
of our concern was that, you know, if you're going
to restrain someone, you're going to have some ligature marks somewhere,
(19:16):
and we had a hard time with that. We didn't
there was no clear distinct ligature marks, which led them
to you know, particularly in the in the beginning, some
people believing that she was immediately killed. A victim who
has been restrained for days may not always end up
with ligature marks on their wrists or ankles. It all
(19:38):
depends on how the victim is being restrained. This all
led to that other issue. Found that Tammy's autopsy she
still had the undigested food that she had eaten right
before she broke down from whatever that was, the heartsease
or whatever. So you know that that all lent to
the fact, you know that she may have been killed
right away, and then maybe she was just kept because
(20:02):
you know, her body is kept for whatever reason. But
that doesn't make like from from a bad guy's perspective,
that doesn't make sense because you know, going back to
the whole body dump thing, you want to get rid
of that as quickly as it would be very strange
to hang on to somebody like that unless you have,
you know, you had somebody like you know that that
had kept her alive somewhere. Whether Tammy was kept alive
(20:27):
or killed right away is an important factor, especially for
those desperate to know what happened to her, But it's
irrelevant to the science behind catching her killer. That comes
down to the DNA testing, completing a profile, and matching
it to the suspect. My source said investigators are currently
(20:48):
missing one piece, but that once they have it and
arrest MORMP will be signed, sealed, and served. I am
fairly certain the field work on all of this has
been completed and it's just a matter of time to
confirm what they already know. I recently shared some of
(21:08):
what I had learned with Jeff Padia, who oversaw Tammy's
case for many years. I'll just I will only say this,
it's not the first I've heard of that. I have
no knowledge that he is the current focus of the investigation.
(21:28):
I am familiar with that line of inquiry. I guess
we could call it. Among all the theories and leads
over the past thirty years, this one seems the most credible,
and according to my sources, current law enforcement believes this
suspect is Tammy's killer. The news seemed to catch Jeff
(21:50):
Padia off guard. I would be interested as to who
would provide you that information With knowledge of the current investigation,
but I also don't want to know. So yeah, I mean,
I you know, I'd love to tell you, but I can't.
I just can't. And no I did it. It It would
be somebody with the same access to my friends and
(22:11):
colleagues and folks that I worked with, so and I
was told all their weight and to do now is
just matched the DNA to this person. That's very interesting.
That's very interesting that you say that. I've reached out
to those leading the current investigation a number of times,
but they've declined to participate. A spokesperson for the FBI
(22:33):
said they were unable to provide any comments outside of
what has already been released, but they appreciate the podcast's
efforts in helping to bring attention to the case. After
working on this case for as long as I have,
I'll say this, the best lead, the most practical suspect
(22:57):
is the former police officer. I'm hold law enforcement is
currently pursuing from all the intel I have been given
and a few off the record conversations, and arrest could
be imminent, which in the real world of investigations could
mean months or even years. I am not holding my breath,
(23:21):
and neither should Tammy's friends and family. The last thing
I want to do is give hope where there is none.
I am simply reporting the information I have developed from
sources with impeccable credibility, and what I have been told
by those who have the access and knowledge to make
such claims. If this is all true, the sadder reality
(23:47):
is that Tammy made the most responsible decision in her situation.
She went with someone reliable, someone she should have been
able to trust, and that fact alone makes this story
all the more difficult to tell, not do once it
(24:19):
with Today, I'm just saying it in there. I just
so can't do much else with it, and there are
I know there's going to be a couple of things,
a couple of articles going out about it, but I'm
just hanging in. I called Joanne Ziwiki last August on
the thirtieth anniversary of her daughter's abduction. I thought about
(24:43):
how hard this all must be, how draining it can get.
I know what it's like from my own nephews and
niece who lost their mother to murder in nineteen ninety six.
As a family member, you think about this stuff often,
but on certain days of the year, it's impossible to
(25:03):
think of anything else. It's hard because it brings it
up against you know, everything again and at the same time,
you know you never know what might come out of that.
There's been some intings that have insolved after so many
years because of it's being left in the spotlight. So
you know, I looked forward for either way. But some
(25:25):
days are good, some days aren't so good. If hope
is part of this, then I can at least offer
a slight bright spot for Joanne. Twenty six years after
my sister in law's murder, I have been told investigators
now have a few suspects they know committed the crime.
So despite the times when it seemed law enforcement had
(25:49):
someone only to then be let down or they had
given up, there is sometimes light at the end or
justice however you look cat it. Joanne told me that
some people in her life encourage her to forget about
all of this, to move on, to go about her
days without stepping back in time. You have to go
(26:12):
through it to know what it's like, especially when you
have the other kids, because you see what the other
kids have done them, what they're going through and everything.
Joanne went on to tell me how hard it has
been for her youngest son, Darren, who shared the first
part of the road trip with Tammy and was the
last one from the family to be with her. You know,
you have to kind of just go with it and
(26:37):
just take things a best you can from day to day. Now,
you know, we all go through subsic and you know,
as long as with each other and help each other,
and you know, it works out well. I don't know.
I don't know right now, and anything I know now
it supposedly the DNA is being destined in California by
one of the best lamps out there. They haven't heard
(26:59):
any say yeah, so anything comes up, you know, I'll
let you know. The impact Tammy's a Wiki had on
those in her life is everlasting. It's something that struck
me in this case, how memories of the victim were
so permanent. It's rare, actually not something I hear all
the time. Tammy's best friend Jen Nelson summed it up perfectly.
(27:23):
Losing your best friend in such a horrible way at
such a young age has an effect on your life.
But for me, I was surrounded by people who were
taking action and helping out and making sure that there
were positive things that came from this and that made
(27:45):
all the difference, and it continues to make all the
difference from the podcast to the Facebook group of people
connecting and talking about what's going on with her. There
are a lot of good people out there, and there
are a lot of people out there who are trying
to keep other people safe and be able to solve
not only this crime, but others that are unsolved, and
(28:09):
to try and keep people from falling victim again. So
I just really appreciate everyone else who helps tell the
story too. During my conversation with Joanne, I mentioned that
we have to go on live life as full as
we can motor through despite how difficult it can sometimes be.
(28:31):
That's it, And I mean, I've got three sons, I've
got seven grandkids, and I can't let this be in
the middle of all of that. You know, they don't
live near me, but I do stay in touch with them,
worry about them down they're in college. I got three
of them one second year of college and two of
them in first year of college. Scary there. It is
(28:55):
that ripple effect from Tammy's abduction and murder trickling out
into the world, reaching the next generation of the ZOWICKI family, Well,
what do you hope from me? If you can bring
any attention to it, bring anything out that hasn't been
out there before, I'd be grateful. I mean, if people say,
(29:16):
why do you think about all that the years don't
make any difference, You'd just like to know. The pain
is the pain. Yeah. At the end of the day,
Tammy's case will be solved through the DNA evidence gathered
from the Missouri crime scene and other locations, tested and
(29:37):
run down by the many talented investigators working this case.
My goal always and telling these stories is to give
victims and their loved ones a voice and to try
to best I can get family some answers which they
so much deserve. I feel that this stage I know
(30:00):
Tammy and all that I have heard and learned, I
believe she would have gone on to be a remarkable success.
She was, by all accounts, an incredible human being, which
is why I wanted to know. For many of those
I spoke with who they thought Tammy would be today,
(30:21):
I'm pretty sure that Tammy would be getting ready to
get off work and put her hair up in a
ponytail and go run and play some some fun co
ed soccer wherever she was living, so I think she
would have had, you know, multiple children. I think she
would have had a big family like she came from.
And I see her being a you know, a coach
(30:44):
for soccer or whether it's kids or college. I kind
of feel like she might have become a photojournalist. I
could see her you know, in the Ukraine, documenting what's
going on and you know, just sharing her her talents
in that way. I think that she had a lot
of talent and a lot to offer this world. And
(31:06):
it's a it's a great loss to the world when
when anybody has taken but I think that she had
a lot to give. And one last time, here's Tammy's mother,
Joanne's a WICKI just to you know the fact that
why things like this has to happen, And I think
about the person that did it to her would kind
(31:28):
of like that person that happen. Yeah, why why do
you take somebody's life that she had a lot to give.
She was an all round person. I'd like to take
(31:52):
this opportunity to thank you the listeners all of your
support over the years, as well as to the sources
who participated in this podcast and my deepest gratitude to
Tammy's friends and most importantly, the Zwicki family who trusted
me with Tammy's story. If you are enjoying Paper Ghosts,
(32:14):
please listen to my other iHeart podcasts, Crossing the Line
with Them William Phelps and White Eagle, where I use
the same storytelling elements you've heard in Paper Ghosts. Paper
Ghosts is written and executive produced by me Em, William
Phelps and iHeart Executive producer Christina Everett. Additional writing by
(32:39):
our supervising producer Julia Weaver. Our associate producer is Darby Masters,
Audio editing and mixing by Christian Bowman and Abu Zafar.
Our series theme number four four two is written and
performed by Thomas Phelps and Tom Mooney. For more podcasts
(33:00):
from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows.
Paper Ghosts is a production of iHeartRadio previously on Paper Ghosts.
So they come to you and you give them the
ok to consume that DNA. I first called Joanne and
we have this discussion about this is our one shot.
You know, we may not get it again if we
(00:21):
agree to do this. She was in complete agreement and said,
we've got to do what we've got to do. In
the process of our analysis of the physical evidence using
more modern DNA tests, the shoelaces were of tremendous interest
to us. A couple of local FBI agents came to
my house and took a DNA swab for me. They
(00:43):
apparently have found mail DNA that they can use. Obviously
they have something that they're processing. My name isem William Phelps.
I'm an investigative journalist, the author more than forty true
crime books. This is season three of Paper Ghosts in
Plain Sight. Over the course of my investigation into Tammy
(01:11):
Ziwiki's murder, I kept coming back to one word trust.
From the beginning. Everything in Tammy's case, the crime scene
on I eighty, the time of day, a highway full
of witnesses, just about everything pointed to one conclusion, Tammy
(01:35):
trusted her killer enough to willingly accept a ride. I
think she trusted somebody and took a ride or whatever,
and then it went off the rails from there. I
don't know if it would be a serial killer. It
could be just a random, one time event. You know,
the opportunity was there, they took her. I believe her
(01:55):
murderer posed as a good samaritan, pulled over under the
guy eyes of offering help, and he probably offered her
a ride. So many of the people interviewed for this
podcast agreed that on the surface, whoever abducted and murdered
Tammy did not ostensibly pose a threat, and despite what
(02:17):
early witness statements and the media seemed to imply, I'm
convinced this person was not a trucker. I believe that
she was dumped across the state to draw interest away
from where she was picked up, and I believe that
that's because that area has a connection to her killer.
(02:39):
And I really believe that the case was getting national news,
it was getting a lot of attention, and I think
that the body was left so that we would find it.
It could have been dumped in a far more remote,
discreete area. If you're a trucker, you know where people
are not going to be. You know there are places
(03:01):
that are deserted. And while it wasn't left in the
middle of the road, it was left in a place
where it was going to be found. And I think
that that was on purpose, so that we would look
in Missouri and stop looking in Illinois. Tammy's friends Stacy
Pappus states perfectly what I have come to believe over
(03:23):
the past year that Tammy's killer likely acted on an
opportunity and abducted her at random, but had certainly thought
things out meticulously afterwards. Like Stacy, I believe his movements
after Tammy's death were calculated and meant to distract, and
(03:44):
he knew a thing or two about where to dump
a body. Here's Tammy's best friend, Jen Nelson. I think
it's hard to imagine a monster who would abduct a
young woman, kill them and only do that once in
their life. No, I think it's a monster who was
(04:05):
out there and was going to hurt somebody else. There
are so many different ways that life in nineteen ninety
two were different than today that it sometimes makes it
hard for listeners to imagine how did this happen. Why
did this happen? You know, well, why didn't she do
this or that? And you have to really put yourself
back into nineteen ninety two to have a better grasp of,
(04:30):
you know, what she was thinking, what she was feeling,
what the investigators were doing to try to investigate this case.
Brian town is a special prosecutor for the State of Illinois.
Prior to that, he was the state's attorney for LaSalle
County from two thousand and six two sixteen and the
(04:51):
assistant state's attorney in nineteen ninety two when Tammy went missing.
I mean, I say this all the time that you
can't look at a nineteen ninety two case through a
contemporary lens or an emotional feeling of what's going on today.
But subconsciously you do unless you're conscious of the fact
that you shouldn't exactly right. It's all about, you know,
(05:15):
the era. And I certainly wouldn't call this a cold case,
but in virtually every cold case in the United States
of America, that's the first and sometimes most difficult hurdle
for an investigation is to say, Okay, I've got to
get back to nineteen fifty six or nineteen seventy three
or whatever year we're talking about. And I've got to
(05:36):
think like they thought then and try to have that perspective.
Otherwise it's going to be a difficult investigation. If she
felt any discomfort from a truck driver, she could easily
ran into those corn fields. I mean, you run into
one of those corn fields right there, you're gone. You're hiding. Yeah.
Being a Midwest guy, I can tell you that in August,
(05:59):
the corn is pretty high, and absolutely she could have
very easily escaped any kind of attacker. And I eighty
in that particular area of that corridor is wide open.
There might be some fences, but certainly I think she
would would have been able to escape if she had
felt threatened or if someone was trying to abduct her.
(06:24):
It's a thought that haunts me. Tammy was abducted from
a busy highway in Illinois in broad daylight on a
hot afternoon in August nineteen ninety two. A flood of
tips led law enforcement to search for a trucker a
connection with her disappearance. It was even a composite of
(06:45):
an eighteen wheeler with two stripes released. Tammy's body was
found nine days later in Missouri, just fifteen feet off
the shoulder of an exit ramp frequented by truckers, which
begs the question did her are capitalized on the frenzied
search for a trucker. Here's former IP Lieutenant Jeff Paedia.
(07:10):
One of the things that led to the overall truck
driver theme was the fact that the betting that she
was wrapped in would have fit the betting in the
back of a sleeper birth. That doesn't mean it was
from a sleeper birth, and that doesn't mean that that
betting wasn't just bought at a Walmart or any other
store along the way. And so, you know, that's I think,
(07:31):
sort of a good lesson about jumping to conclusions. You know,
you have, all right, it fits the betting that she's
wrapped in fits a sleeper birth. That doesn't mean that
it was a truck And then it, particularly as a supervisor,
you start saying something like that, or you even voice that, oh,
it must have been a truck driver. Every one of
your detectives then is focused on truck drivers. And that's
the last thing we wanted, you know, because we did
(07:53):
have other information out there. And then you know, you
want to keep all things open. I've said it all along.
There's been an element of tunnel vision that, in my view,
hindered progress in the investigation, at least in the early days.
And as the saying goes, if you don't change the
(08:15):
way you look at things, the things you look at
will not change. So if I shift my focus from
truck driver to someone Tammy could have trusted, a new
pool of potential suspects opens up. We always struggled with
the idea of, you know, the couple things somebody in
(08:37):
a position of authority, or somebody right at her age
that she may have known. Like, we had the idea
that we thought that there was a possibility that the
actual offender was another Grinnell College male student, because she
(08:58):
would have to have recognized, you know, like, oh, I
recognize you from campus, aren't you? You know? Or you
have somebody with a badge in a uniform that they're like,
come on, i'll hop in, I'll give you a ride,
and then she would feel comfortable with that. Law enforcement
followed that threat, but there was no evidence to support
(09:18):
a fellow Grinnell's students involvement, or any student for that matter.
So then if you apply the logic that Tammy instinctively
trusted a stranger, you could draw the conclusion that this
person was someone in a position of authority. If you
(09:39):
recall from an earlier episode, Tammy's car was found locked
on the shoulder of the interstate. There was no sign
of a struggle in or around the vehicle. Her purse,
along with her I D were not in the car,
So it seems that when her abductor arrived to offer help,
Tammy felt at ease, took her bag and left willingly
(10:00):
with that person. It's a point I brought up with
Jeff Hanford, a former ISP officer who worked on Tammy's case.
You know, I mean, in my talks that I gave
after this, I would tell them I wouldn't accept any
help from anybody who is not a uniform policeman. I said,
because I know how you know what they're going to
(10:22):
do for you. They're going to call you a tow
truck that's on a list that's been vetted. You said,
uniform policeman. Why only uniform policemen. People are impersonating policeman,
aren't going to be in a marked car with a uniform,
and they're just not. It's too much, it's too dangerous.
You know, it's too easy to get caught. Nowadays, they'll
(10:44):
see county deputies out there quite a bit too. I've
noticed that, so you know, I've been a uniform police
officer in a mark squad car. That's what you want,
that's the ultimate, because you'll be out of there in
twenty minutes. Law enforcement received countless tips from motorists about
the day Tammy went missing, and looking at an ISP
handwritten witness tipsheet and time sequence report, I didn't see
(11:08):
any indication of a marked or unmarked police vehicle stopping
to help. Then again, if people driving on the interstate
saw a police vehicle park next to a stalled car,
I think there would be relief, no cause for alarm,
and no reason to report it. In my view, it's
(11:33):
safe to assume there was something about the person who
pulled over that put Tammy at ease, the collar of
a clergyman, perhaps maybe an elderly man, or someone with
a badge. Tammy was tough. Tammy grew up with three brothers.
(11:56):
Tammy wasn't naive. But if a guy shows up in
a collar, or a guy shows up with a badge,
she's going with him. Sure, I agree with you, And
that kind of dovetails in perfectly with the fact that
Tammy's family firmly believes that she never would have gotten
into a semi truck with a truck driver that you know,
she didn't know and had no connection to nineteen ninety two.
(12:19):
It was a different era, as a different time. You know,
a young lady, college bound or somewhat college educated or
getting her education would have trusted police and would have,
when stranded on the side of a busy road, happily
gotten into a squad car with someone in a position
of authority. The possibility that a man in uniform was
(12:42):
responsible for Tammy's a Wiki's abduction and murder is a
theory I've been pursuing since I learned from someone deeply
connected to the case that, as of early twenty twenty two,
the prime suspect law enforcement has been zeroing in on
is a former police officer Waitnia from the slum. In
(13:25):
the days and weeks after I learned that a former
police officer was now the prime suspect and Tammy's a
Wiki's abduction and murder, the puzzle pieces in this case
began to fall into place. My source, who was asked
to remain anonymous, told me this officer has been on
(13:46):
law enforcement's radar since the earliest days of the investigation,
and he remains at the center of the latest inquiries today.
I worked for months to back up this information and
aid carefully whether to include it in the podcast. In
the end, I was told that including this detail would
(14:08):
not hinder the act of investigation. An accusation against a
member of law enforcement isn't an easy one to make
or prove. Investigators didn't want to tip off a potential
suspect too early, which, for reasons I now understand, is
why for many decades it was imperative that any word
(14:30):
about the suspect stay out of the press. And in
thinking about this suspect, it makes a little more sense
now why it felt as if someone was mucking around
with the case in the beginning of the investigation. It
could also be the reason why the IP dissolved the
task force after just six months. Was it because they
(14:54):
thought one of their own could be responsible. What's even
more alarming is what I heard in early twenty twenty three,
I met with another law enforcement source who confirmed the
cops suspect theory. That source told me this suspect had
(15:15):
taken two previously unplanned days off from work after Tammy
was abducted, which could account for a lot of unanswered questions,
most importantly why her body was found five hundred miles away.
It's a point I brought up with Jeff Padilla. There's
(15:39):
so much land out there to dump a body that
no one would ever find. And if I'm familiar with it,
the land, why put her on the side of the
road exactly exactly? And typically we know, you know from
my experience, a body dump is meant to create time
and distance between the offender and the victim. You know now,
(16:00):
now that lends credence to some of those other theories.
You know, why would somebody want to create time and
distance between them and Tammy? Many serial killers I have
interviewed have told me that the more distance they put
between themselves and their victims, the better the chances are
of never being connected to that victim. The fact that
(16:21):
Tammy was missing for nine days and then found alongside
a busy exit ramp in a neighboring state tells me
her killer was well aware of this concept. If I'm
a cop in Illinois. The last thing I'd want is
for one of my colleagues to find her body another state,
(16:41):
another jurisdiction. So here's a theory, right, So she's abducted,
the call goes out and everyone's looking for an eighteen
wheel or truck driver, right right. Nine days pass, and
she's dumped by a truck stop. Yep, because everybody thought
(17:02):
it was you know, everybody believed it was a truck driver.
So why not make it look like it was a
truck driver, right right, and going buy the betting that
fits the size of a truck birth. An important point
to factor into the trucker theory is how easy it
would have been for a truck driver to dump Tammy's
(17:25):
body anywhere else but where she was found. Consider the
typical over the road trucker who spends days traversing the country.
If he's holding onto the body for nine days, he
might as well have driven to Washington State and dumped
her there. But to travel five hundred miles and then
dump her out in the open, it defies logic, even
(17:47):
for a psychopath. If I'm the offender and I'm the
truck driver, and for whatever reason, she gets in the
truck with me. I've got her, I'm going to take
care of business. And then when she dies straight down
I eighty, I just pull over, wait for nobody's coming by,
pull her body out, and dump her in the ditch.
(18:09):
My second source told me that a search warrant was
conducted on the police officer's home in nineteen ninety three,
and during that search, many items of interest were found,
including an old mattress in his basement and other items
that made it quote appear as though someone was being restrained.
(18:30):
The mattress, I'm told was dirty and had been recently
slept on, and had stains that appeared to resemble blood.
Could the mattress be the piece of evidence investigators were
able to recently extract DNA from test and build a
profile off of Many of those involved in the investigation
(18:51):
have agreed on the theory that Tammy was restrained and
held hostage for the period of time she was missing.
As I was speaking to Jeff Padilla about the case
in general, I slipped in a question about this. Part
of our concern was that, you know, if you're going
to restrain someone, you're going to have some ligature marks somewhere,
(19:16):
and we had a hard time with that. We didn't
there was no clear distinct ligature marks, which led them
to you know, particularly in the in the beginning, some
people believing that she was immediately killed. A victim who
has been restrained for days may not always end up
with ligature marks on their wrists or ankles. It all
(19:38):
depends on how the victim is being restrained. This all
led to that other issue. Found that Tammy's autopsy she
still had the undigested food that she had eaten right
before she broke down from whatever that was, the heartsease
or whatever. So you know that that all lent to
the fact, you know that she may have been killed
right away, and then maybe she was just kept because
(20:02):
you know, her body is kept for whatever reason. But
that doesn't make like from from a bad guy's perspective,
that doesn't make sense because you know, going back to
the whole body dump thing, you want to get rid
of that as quickly as it would be very strange
to hang on to somebody like that unless you have,
you know, you had somebody like you know that that
had kept her alive somewhere. Whether Tammy was kept alive
(20:27):
or killed right away is an important factor, especially for
those desperate to know what happened to her, But it's
irrelevant to the science behind catching her killer. That comes
down to the DNA testing, completing a profile, and matching
it to the suspect. My source said investigators are currently
(20:48):
missing one piece, but that once they have it and
arrest MORMP will be signed, sealed, and served. I am
fairly certain the field work on all of this has
been completed and it's just a matter of time to
confirm what they already know. I recently shared some of
(21:08):
what I had learned with Jeff Padia, who oversaw Tammy's
case for many years. I'll just I will only say this,
it's not the first I've heard of that. I have
no knowledge that he is the current focus of the investigation.
(21:28):
I am familiar with that line of inquiry. I guess
we could call it. Among all the theories and leads
over the past thirty years, this one seems the most credible,
and according to my sources, current law enforcement believes this
suspect is Tammy's killer. The news seemed to catch Jeff
(21:50):
Padia off guard. I would be interested as to who
would provide you that information With knowledge of the current investigation,
but I also don't want to know. So yeah, I mean,
I you know, I'd love to tell you, but I can't.
I just can't. And no I did it. It It would
be somebody with the same access to my friends and
(22:11):
colleagues and folks that I worked with, so and I
was told all their weight and to do now is
just matched the DNA to this person. That's very interesting.
That's very interesting that you say that. I've reached out
to those leading the current investigation a number of times,
but they've declined to participate. A spokesperson for the FBI
(22:33):
said they were unable to provide any comments outside of
what has already been released, but they appreciate the podcast's
efforts in helping to bring attention to the case. After
working on this case for as long as I have,
I'll say this, the best lead, the most practical suspect
(22:57):
is the former police officer. I'm hold law enforcement is
currently pursuing from all the intel I have been given
and a few off the record conversations, and arrest could
be imminent, which in the real world of investigations could
mean months or even years. I am not holding my breath,
(23:21):
and neither should Tammy's friends and family. The last thing
I want to do is give hope where there is none.
I am simply reporting the information I have developed from
sources with impeccable credibility, and what I have been told
by those who have the access and knowledge to make
such claims. If this is all true, the sadder reality
(23:47):
is that Tammy made the most responsible decision in her situation.
She went with someone reliable, someone she should have been
able to trust, and that fact alone makes this story
all the more difficult to tell, not do once it
(24:19):
with Today, I'm just saying it in there. I just
so can't do much else with it, and there are
I know there's going to be a couple of things,
a couple of articles going out about it, but I'm
just hanging in. I called Joanne Ziwiki last August on
the thirtieth anniversary of her daughter's abduction. I thought about
(24:43):
how hard this all must be, how draining it can get.
I know what it's like from my own nephews and
niece who lost their mother to murder in nineteen ninety six.
As a family member, you think about this stuff often,
but on certain days of the year, it's impossible to
(25:03):
think of anything else. It's hard because it brings it
up against you know, everything again and at the same time,
you know you never know what might come out of that.
There's been some intings that have insolved after so many
years because of it's being left in the spotlight. So
you know, I looked forward for either way. But some
(25:25):
days are good, some days aren't so good. If hope
is part of this, then I can at least offer
a slight bright spot for Joanne. Twenty six years after
my sister in law's murder, I have been told investigators
now have a few suspects they know committed the crime.
So despite the times when it seemed law enforcement had
(25:49):
someone only to then be let down or they had
given up, there is sometimes light at the end or
justice however you look cat it. Joanne told me that
some people in her life encourage her to forget about
all of this, to move on, to go about her
days without stepping back in time. You have to go
(26:12):
through it to know what it's like, especially when you
have the other kids, because you see what the other
kids have done them, what they're going through and everything.
Joanne went on to tell me how hard it has
been for her youngest son, Darren, who shared the first
part of the road trip with Tammy and was the
last one from the family to be with her. You know,
you have to kind of just go with it and
(26:37):
just take things a best you can from day to day. Now,
you know, we all go through subsic and you know,
as long as with each other and help each other,
and you know, it works out well. I don't know.
I don't know right now, and anything I know now
it supposedly the DNA is being destined in California by
one of the best lamps out there. They haven't heard
(26:59):
any say yeah, so anything comes up, you know, I'll
let you know. The impact Tammy's a Wiki had on
those in her life is everlasting. It's something that struck
me in this case, how memories of the victim were
so permanent. It's rare, actually not something I hear all
the time. Tammy's best friend Jen Nelson summed it up perfectly.
(27:23):
Losing your best friend in such a horrible way at
such a young age has an effect on your life.
But for me, I was surrounded by people who were
taking action and helping out and making sure that there
were positive things that came from this and that made
(27:45):
all the difference, and it continues to make all the
difference from the podcast to the Facebook group of people
connecting and talking about what's going on with her. There
are a lot of good people out there, and there
are a lot of people out there who are trying
to keep other people safe and be able to solve
not only this crime, but others that are unsolved, and
(28:09):
to try and keep people from falling victim again. So
I just really appreciate everyone else who helps tell the
story too. During my conversation with Joanne, I mentioned that
we have to go on live life as full as
we can motor through despite how difficult it can sometimes be.
(28:31):
That's it, And I mean, I've got three sons, I've
got seven grandkids, and I can't let this be in
the middle of all of that. You know, they don't
live near me, but I do stay in touch with them,
worry about them down they're in college. I got three
of them one second year of college and two of
them in first year of college. Scary there. It is
(28:55):
that ripple effect from Tammy's abduction and murder trickling out
into the world, reaching the next generation of the ZOWICKI family, Well,
what do you hope from me? If you can bring
any attention to it, bring anything out that hasn't been
out there before, I'd be grateful. I mean, if people say,
(29:16):
why do you think about all that the years don't
make any difference, You'd just like to know. The pain
is the pain. Yeah. At the end of the day,
Tammy's case will be solved through the DNA evidence gathered
from the Missouri crime scene and other locations, tested and
(29:37):
run down by the many talented investigators working this case.
My goal always and telling these stories is to give
victims and their loved ones a voice and to try
to best I can get family some answers which they
so much deserve. I feel that this stage I know
(30:00):
Tammy and all that I have heard and learned, I
believe she would have gone on to be a remarkable success.
She was, by all accounts, an incredible human being, which
is why I wanted to know. For many of those
I spoke with who they thought Tammy would be today,
(30:21):
I'm pretty sure that Tammy would be getting ready to
get off work and put her hair up in a
ponytail and go run and play some some fun co
ed soccer wherever she was living, so I think she
would have had, you know, multiple children. I think she
would have had a big family like she came from.
And I see her being a you know, a coach
(30:44):
for soccer or whether it's kids or college. I kind
of feel like she might have become a photojournalist. I
could see her you know, in the Ukraine, documenting what's
going on and you know, just sharing her her talents
in that way. I think that she had a lot
of talent and a lot to offer this world. And
(31:06):
it's a it's a great loss to the world when
when anybody has taken but I think that she had
a lot to give. And one last time, here's Tammy's mother,
Joanne's a WICKI just to you know the fact that
why things like this has to happen, And I think
about the person that did it to her would kind
(31:28):
of like that person that happen. Yeah, why why do
you take somebody's life that she had a lot to give.
She was an all round person. I'd like to take
(31:52):
this opportunity to thank you the listeners all of your
support over the years, as well as to the sources
who participated in this podcast and my deepest gratitude to
Tammy's friends and most importantly, the Zwicki family who trusted
me with Tammy's story. If you are enjoying Paper Ghosts,
(32:14):
please listen to my other iHeart podcasts, Crossing the Line
with Them William Phelps and White Eagle, where I use
the same storytelling elements you've heard in Paper Ghosts. Paper
Ghosts is written and executive produced by me Em, William
Phelps and iHeart Executive producer Christina Everett. Additional writing by
(32:39):
our supervising producer Julia Weaver. Our associate producer is Darby Masters,
Audio editing and mixing by Christian Bowman and Abu Zafar.
Our series theme number four four two is written and
performed by Thomas Phelps and Tom Mooney. For more podcasts
(33:00):
from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows.
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