Posted by Ishtar93 on Feb-01-01 at 06:58 PM (EST)<BR> <BR><b>NEW PROSECUTOR MAY REOPEN CASE OF MISSING TEEN</b><P>By Lola Smallwood<BR>Tribune Staff Writer<BR>February 1, 2001 <BR>Five years ago this week, 13-year-old Rachel Mellon disappeared from her Bolingbrook home without a trace.<P>Police are hoping that what little they know about her disappearance will be enough to persuade the newly elected Will County state's attorney to review the case, which dropped out of the headlines last year after a grand jury failed to return an indictment.<P>And it appears they may be successful.<P>"It's a challenging case and somewhat complex, but it has some promising aspects to it," said State's Atty. Jeff Tomczak, who has spent a good portion of his first month in office poring over a report submitted to his office by Bolingbrook police.<P>"It's a benefit to have a fresh and objective review of the case," said Tomczak, noting he personally will handle the review.<P>That's a relief to Rachel's father, Jeff Skemp, 42, of Maywood, who has planned a letter-writing campaign urging Tomczak to pursue the case.<P>"I've come to believe a long time ago that I'm never going to see Rachel again," Skemp said. "But as time goes on, I'm coming to also realize that nothing is going to be done about it.<P>"Last year, I was optimistic that there would be an arrest in the case. That didn't happen. This year she would be a senior in high school and it should be the time of her life. Instead, it's the state's attorney's office of Will County that has to make the next move."<P>Rachel disappeared on the bitterly cold afternoon of Jan. 31, 1996, from the home in the 600 block of Melissa Drive where she lived with her mother and stepfather, Amy and Vince Mellon. Police said the honor student at Ward School in Bolingbrook had stayed home sick with a sore throat.<P>Unemployed at the time, Vince Mellon, 34, was the last person to see Rachel.<P>Mellon told police he played video games with the girl and then decided to walk the family dog about 2:30 p.m. when Rachel said she was going to take a nap. Less than an hour later, the girl's younger sibling noticed Rachel was missing, but nobody called police until Amy Mellon, 41, returned home from work shortly after 5:30 p.m.<P>Initially, Bolingbrook authorities ruled out foul play. Rachel had run away from home for a 12-hour period months before the disappearance. But after several days went by with no word from her, police began piecing together a criminal investigation.<P>Without a body or physical evidence in the case, police say it's difficult to determine for certain what happened to the girl.<P>Amy Mellon contends the girl was abducted. Others, namely Skemp, have placed suspicion on her stepfather.<P>As the fourth anniversary of Rachel's disappearance approached last year, police took blood, hair and saliva samples from Vince Mellon. Authorities also searched the couple's new home in Joliet, removing several items.<P>Under then-Will County State's Atty. James W. Glasgow, Amy and Vince Mellon were subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury about what they knew of the disappearance. However, no indictment was returned.<P>The Mellons could not be reached for comment on the case this week.<P>Bolingbrook investigators, who recently entered Rachel into the national database of adult missing persons, are confident Tomczak will make all the difference.<P>"The only thing new in the case is Jeff Tomczak," said Bolingbrook Police Cmdr. Keith George. "We'd hoped to have this case come to some type of resolution, but all we've gotten so far is circumstantial evidence. We're going to present what we have to the new state's attorney to see if he feels it's enough to impanel a new grand jury. We still hold hope that we will resolve this."<P>In many ways, Tomczak may indeed be the savior Rachel's case needs, police said. As a former Will County prosecutor, Tomczak sharply criticized his predecessor, Glasgow, for mishandling some cases and failing to prosecute others. In addition, Tomczak, who is considered a friend of police, carried the endorsement of local law enforcement.<P>"I have a reputation for being a creative attorney who's willing to take the tough case," he said.<P>Based on his initial findings, Tomczak said the passage of five years doesn't pose a problem for the Mellon case because police have kept track of witnesses and the investigation remains open. In addition, he noted a new grand jury will be formed early this month and could be called on to revisit this issue.<P>Within coming weeks he plans to hold separate meetings with investigators and Rachel's parents to discuss how the case should proceed, Tomczak said.<P>Meanwhile, the Mellons have come under fire for allegedly failing to report or monitor donations funneled into a search fund set up for Rachel, according to John Schrock, attorney for Amy Mellon. Under state laws, recipients of donations are required to keep an accounting of how those dollars are spent.<P>"I asked Amy about the account, but we never were formally given that information," said Schrock.<P><a href="http://chicagotribune.com/news/local/article/0";>http://chicagotribune.com/news/local/article/0<;/a>,1051,SAV-0102010363,00.html