THE DARK SIDE OF CHICAGO

     The summer of 1972 had a mysterious rash of murders that were happening to females throughout the Chicagoland area and surrounding suburbs. As of September 24th, the count was now at four teenage girls, two women, and one 18-month-old baby girl. The Police were baffled, could this be the work of a serial killer?
    The first body was found in June. Kathleen Morecraft, 18, of Elgin, was last seen riding her bike. Her body was found slain in a nearby forest preserve near Streamwood. She apparently was on her way to visit a friend, when she was apparently attacked and then dumped into the forest preserve.
    A month later, Julie Hanson, 15, of Naperville, was found stabbed to death in a cornfield south of her home. She also was last seen riding her bike near her house.
    Labor Day weekend, Judith Bettekey, 24, of Stoke-on-Trent, England, was enjoying her visit to the city and decided to take a stroll through Grant Park. She was dragged into the bushes by a man, and beaten to death. This was near the 11th Street Bridge that crossed over the Illinois Central Railroad tracks.
    September 11th, the bodies of Mrs. Barbara Flanagan, 27, Mount Prospect, and her 18-month-old daughter Renee, were found dead in a church parking lot. She apparently went to meet a man who wanted to employ her as a baby sitter. Mrs. Flanagan apparently died of a head trauma after her attacker beat her head against the pavement. Her daughter died of an apparent sexual attack.
    Two days later, September 13th, Sally Kandel, 14, of Carol Stream, was found bludgeoned to death in a nearby cornfield. She was last seen going out for a bike ride.
    The following nine days seemed rather quiet for police, but on September 23rd, Deborah Kozlarek, 17, and Carolyn Vandermolen, 13, both from Chicago, were found slain in Washington Park. This murder seemed to baffle police; fifteen years earlier they had a similar case of the Grimes sisters. The Grimes sisters up until this date still have not been solved, so police wanted to take all the steps necessary to try and solve this one.
    Both of these bodies were discovered in the park, on Saturday, by a jogger at about 7:30am. According to police, each of them had apparently been shot with a .32 caliber bullet.
    The girls were last seen the previous night about 8pm, near their homes. How the girls got to the park remained a mystery, so the police backtracked and tried to piece together the final moments.
    Three separate teams of detectives canvassed the neighborhood looking for clues and talking with neighbors. Investigators interviewed acquaintances, close friends, and talked with shop owners. The investigators theorized that the pair probably hitchhiked a ride from their killer or met him in the neighborhood. Neighbors claim they were known for hitching rides to get around town.
    Deborah, who was working as a waitress at the Motor World Lounge, 5300 S. Pulaski, had worked that Friday evening until 5pm. Her scheduled day off was Saturday.
    Carolyn was seen buying cigarettes early that evening at the Open Pantry Food Mart near her house. She was in the 8th grade at St. Augustine on 50th and Laflin Street.
    Mrs. Vandermolen had asked two policemen friends on Saturday to help search for the girls over the weekend since they did not come home.
    On Monday afternoon she went to the police station where she officially reported them missing. After listening to her story, the police asked her to accompany them to the morgue. She then identified her daughter and tentatively that of Deborah until her father confirmed the identification.
    Mrs. Vandermolen told police that Carolyn had asked her father if she could spend that night at Debbi's. Though her father refused, she left anyway.
     Mr. Kozlarek told police he had last spoke with his daughter about 7pm when she told him that she was going to run and do some laundry. She told him she would be home soon, but had never returned.
    Both girls had typical problems that most teenagers always faced. The not getting along with parents and problems at school. Debbi dropped out after she was stabbed in the leg while attending Gage Park High School. She feared the racial tension building and decided to work instead. Carolyn had run away once for a couple of days. She often got into arguments with her mom about staying out late.
    Detectives continued to check on leads and had a few clues to follow up on. They were hopeful to have a breakthrough soon.
    Upon the coroner's report, they discovered both girls ate a full meal and were possibly shot around 1-2am. So detectives then had to figure out where and with who was that last meal. If they could find out that information they would be taking a giant step on solving this crime.
    After reconstructing the possible times, they were able to narrow it down. At around 9:30pm they were both seen about a block from their homes. Shortly around 10pm, Deborah was seen in the Down Beat Tap Tavern by her brother-in-law purchasing something. A neighbor had reported seeing them around 11pm, near 51st and Elizabeth, this would be the last known time of them being alive. Midnight would have been the time they ate their last meal, but detectives did not know where.
    Just an hour or two into Saturday morning, both were shot in the back of the neck. Both of the girls were found facing down in the park, their clothes were not disarranged and both had not been sexually molested. They did however have no identification or money on them, so robbery could not be ruled out.
    Police did confirm there was a large pool of blood at the scene, and that one of the slugs did go through one of the victim's head. This bullet was not recovered so there was a speculation that the girls could have been shot in an auto and then dumped into the park.
    Police did continue to investigate where the two girls ate but nothing had surfaced. They did however narrow the time frame down to three hours from the last time the both were seen alive and the moment they were fatally shot.
    Eventually all the people the girls talked with, and the places they were last seen, all had been exhausted. Yet nobody could provide any more help. This case faded with time, just like many others. Nobody has ever been formally charged with this or any of the above mentioned murders.
    Some choose to forget all these horrible events, then others like myself, strive to get an answer. What happened that summer night could happen again. As long as someone holds an interest in those unsolved cases, they would not be forgotten. Forgetting the people who lost their lives, will be forgetting to find those who committed these murders. There is no statute of limitations with murder involved, so let's try and serve justice. (Both of these girls are buried in Resurrection Cemetery. Deborah Kozlarek is buried in Section MM, Lot 10, Block 13, Grave 10. Carolyn Vandermolen is in Section 35; Lot 220.Please respect these graves.)

** If you have an interest in the Grimes Murders, I highly recommend reading the new book: Murder Gone Cold, by Tamara Shaffer.**