<img src="http://www.missingkids.org/photographs/814151c1.jpg";> <BR><font color=Blue><b><font size= 1>RACHEL MARIE MELLON</font color></b></font size> <BR><font color=purple>Case Type :Endangered Missing<BR>DOB :oct-13-1982 Age :18 years<BR>Height : 5' 0" Weight : 65 lbs <BR>Eyes :Hazel Hair : Black<BR> <BR>Circumstances : Child disappeared from her residence on January 31, 1996.She was last seen wearing yellow sweatpants, a pink top, red house-slippers and was wrapped in a blue blanket. <P>Date Missing :jan-31-1996 <BR>City of Report :BOLINGBROOK, IL, USA<BR>Case Number :814151 <P>National Center for Missing & Exploited Children <BR><b><font size= 2>1-800-THE-LOST</font size></b><BR>ANYONE HAVING INFORMATION SHOULD CONTACT : Bolingbrook Police Department (Illinois) - Missing Persons Unit 1-630-226-0600 <BR>View Poster<P>..................................................................<BR>(Repost Ishtar93 Jan 31,2001)<BR><b><font size= 1>Mellon case unsolved 5 years later</b></font size> <BR>By Joe Hosey <BR>STAFF WRITER <P>Investigation open: 13-year-old vanished from home in 1996 <P>BOLINGBROOK — Rachel Mellon disappeared five years ago today, the anniversary arriving with far less fanfare than the last and little indication she's ever coming back.<P>Mellon, then 13, vanished from her family's Bolingbrook home the afternoon of Jan. 31, 1996. She called off from school that morning, complaining of a sore throat.<P>No one knew she was missing until her mother, Amy Mellon, came home from work that evening.<P>Rachel's stepfather, Vince Mellon, later told police he last saw Rachel as he was taking Duke, the family dog, out for a walk about 2:30 p.m. The dog chased a rabbit, Vince Mellon says, and was returned by what police called a "good Samaritan" in the area on business.<P>In the time between taking out the dog and when his wife, Amy, came home, Vince Mellon says he didn't look in on his daughter's room where he presumed she would be.<P>After the first four years Rachel was missing, Bolingbrook police announced they had "new information," "technical advances" and "significant developments" arising in the Mellon case.<P>Shortly after, Vince Mellon was picked up by Bolingbrook cops at his new Joliet home and held, according to Amy, for nine hours.<P>Following that, Vince and Amy Mellon appeared before a grand jury in February, with Amy spending hours inside the closed room and Vince walking in and out within a matter of minutes.<P>A search warrant also surfaced, charging that blood and bodily fluids belonging to Vince "constitute evidence of First Degree Murder."<P>This was followed by a legal challenge lodged by Amy Mellon's attorney, John Schrock, alleging Bolingbrook officers illegally searched the Mellon house while Vince was with police and Amy was at work.<P>The suit was tossed after a lengthy series of hearings, depositions and claims from Amy Mellon that police wrongfully rifled her underwear drawer and absconded with photographs of her daughter that FBI agents transported to her native land of the Philippines.<P>A private investigator retained by Schrock also reportedly found a tap on the Mellon's home telephone, the origins of which remain unclear.<P>For all this trouble, Rachel Mellon remains missing. If she was murdered, the killer was never caught, and about the only news of significance is that she turned 18 and is now allowed to stay missing by law. <P><b><font size>Probe continues</b></font size> <P>The police investigation continues, although it has been quiet in the wake of all the activity from last year.<P>"We plan to present (the case) to the state's attorney's office sometime in the near future," said Bolingbrook Police Cmdr. Keith George, the department's top investigator.<P>"We plan to present (the case) to the state's attorney's office sometime in the near future," said Bolingbrook Police Cmdr. Keith George, the department's top investigator.<P>George pointed to the recent transition from former State's Attorney James Glasgow to current top prosecutor Jeff Tomczak following November's election in explaining the need to confer with officials. Last year's grand jury and subsequent lawsuit fell during Glasgow's watch. Contact Joe Hosey at (815) 729-6054 or via e-mail at jhosey@scn1.com. <P><a href="http://www.copleynewspapers.com/heraldnews/city/j31mellon.htm";>http://www.copleynewspapers.com/heraldnews/city/j31mellon.htm<;/a><P>