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"Rachel Mellon Vanished Jan 1996"
 
   http://www.missingkids.org/photographs/814151c1.jpg";>
RACHEL MARIE MELLON
Case Type :Endangered Missing
DOB ct-13-1982 Age :18 years
Height : 5' 0" Weight : 65 lbs
Eyes :Hazel Hair : Black

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.

Date Missing :jan-31-1996
City of Report :BOLINGBROOK, IL, USA
Case Number :814151

National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
1-800-THE-LOST
ANYONE HAVING INFORMATION SHOULD CONTACT : Bolingbrook Police Department (Illinois) - Missing Persons Unit 1-630-226-0600
View Poster

..................................................................
(Repost Ishtar93 Jan 31,2001)
Mellon case unsolved 5 years later
By Joe Hosey
STAFF WRITER

Investigation open: 13-year-old vanished from home in 1996

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.

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.

No one knew she was missing until her mother, Amy Mellon, came home from work that evening.

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.

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.

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.

Shortly after, Vince Mellon was picked up by Bolingbrook cops at his new Joliet home and held, according to Amy, for nine hours.

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.

A search warrant also surfaced, charging that blood and bodily fluids belonging to Vince "constitute evidence of First Degree Murder."

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.

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.

A private investigator retained by Schrock also reportedly found a tap on the Mellon's home telephone, the origins of which remain unclear.

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.

Probe continues

The police investigation continues, although it has been quiet in the wake of all the activity from last year.

"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.

"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.

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.


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LadyBugmoderator
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1. "i was wondering..."
In response to message #0
 
   Posted by birgitta on Feb-01-01 at 01:48 PM (EST)

if there could be a connection between rachel and jill behrman,maybe itīs something or maybe itīs just because they look a like....?...


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LadyBugmoderator
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2. "Compare Photo Missing Children"
In response to message #1
 
   Posted by LadyBug on Feb-02-01 at 05:11 PM (EST)

http://www.indiana.edu/~alumni/iuaa/jillbehrman/jillbehrman-125x125.jpg";>
Jill Behrman


*********
"they do...."
Posted by birgitta on Feb-02-01 at 07:08 PM (EST)

look alike but jill is older and rachel was only 13 when she was taken,i donīt know if itīs a connection or not,maybe itīs possible i donīt know,something is bothering me about this but i donīt know what that is.
ladybug do you know if a connection is possible??


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LadyBugmoderator
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3. "May Reopen Case "
In response to message #2
 
   Posted by Ishtar93 on Feb-01-01 at 06:58 PM (EST)

NEW PROSECUTOR MAY REOPEN CASE OF MISSING TEEN

By Lola Smallwood
Tribune Staff Writer
February 1, 2001
Five years ago this week, 13-year-old Rachel Mellon disappeared from her Bolingbrook home without a trace.

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.

And it appears they may be successful.

"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.

"It's a benefit to have a fresh and objective review of the case," said Tomczak, noting he personally will handle the review.

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.

"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.

"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."

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.

Unemployed at the time, Vince Mellon, 34, was the last person to see Rachel.

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.

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.

Without a body or physical evidence in the case, police say it's difficult to determine for certain what happened to the girl.

Amy Mellon contends the girl was abducted. Others, namely Skemp, have placed suspicion on her stepfather.

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.

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.

The Mellons could not be reached for comment on the case this week.

Bolingbrook investigators, who recently entered Rachel into the national database of adult missing persons, are confident Tomczak will make all the difference.

"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."

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.

"I have a reputation for being a creative attorney who's willing to take the tough case," he said.

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.

Within coming weeks he plans to hold separate meetings with investigators and Rachel's parents to discuss how the case should proceed, Tomczak said.

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.

"I asked Amy about the account, but we never were formally given that information," said Schrock.

http://chicagotribune.com/news/local/article/0,1051,SAV-0102010363,00.html


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LadyBugmoderator
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4. "Information ?"
In response to message #3
 
   Post it here or call 1-800-THE-LOST


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Summer
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5. "Rachel"
In response to message #4
 
   LAST EDITED ON Mar-29-01 AT 06:31 PM (EST)

LAST EDITED ON Mar-29-01 AT 05:56 PM (EST)

Is there any new info about Rachel's disappearance?


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Summer
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Mar-29-01, 11:03 AM (GMT)
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6. "Sorry for the confusion"
In response to message #5
 
   LAST EDITED ON Mar-29-01 AT 05:56 PM (EST)

.


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birgitta
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7. "ladybug...."
In response to message #6
 
   is there anything new in this case???
i asked long ago if there is a possible link between this case and the case of jill behrman..
maybe you canīt answer that,but iīm curious to know,i think there is some kind of a link!??


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