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Family, friends remember Rachel Mellon
Teen disappeared 10 years ago

By Rob Johnson
WLS-TV/ABC 7

January 28, 2006 - Family and friends held a memorial Saturday night to remember Rachel Mellon.The Bolingbrook teenager's disappearance 10 years ago still remains a tragic mystery.

Friends and family gathered at First Baptist Church of Maywood, where Rachel attended. They sang and prayed in her honor.
One of those in attendance was Rachel's father, Jeff Skemp.

"It's apparent that Rachel has probably passed away and is no longer with us. I think it's time for us to get together and comfort each other and say goodbye to Rachel, give her a proper send off," said Skemp.

One keepsake Skemp has of his daughter is her playing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," as she was learning the guitar. Two weeks after the tape was made, Rachel became ill. Instead of going to school, she stayed home in southwest suburban Bolingbrook. The 13-year-old was never seen again.

The last person known to have seen her was her stepfather, Vince Mellon. He complained that police made him a suspect. But he was never charged. In fact, no one has ever been charged in the case.

"Just try to cope and keep going and try to be the person I know Rachel would want me to be," Skemp said.

As time passed without a clue as to Rachel's fate, friends and relatives tried to make sure she wasn't forgotten. They planted a tree in her honor and they made a CD in her memory. An age progression picture was designed to show what she might look like as a young woman.

"It's unfortunate she's not here, but we love her and will never forget her," said Steven Sapoznik, Rachel's friend and classmate.

After a decade, investigators still hope to solve the mystery of the missing girl. But without a break in the case, Rachel's father says, for him, Saturday night's tribute is goodbye.

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Stepfather of missing girl jailed for violating battery sentence

Chicago Tribune (IL)
August 31, 2006

A man once eyed by authorities investigating the 1996 disappearance of his 13-year-old stepdaughter was sentenced Wednesday to 200 days in Will County Jail for violating the sentencing terms of an unrelated domestic battery conviction.

Vince Mellon was ordered by Will County Circuit Court Judge J. Jeffrey Allen to complete domestic violence counseling and undergo 75 hours of treatment for alcohol abuse.

Mellon also was told to have "no offensive contact" with his wife and one of their two children.

Mellon, 39, was the last person to see Rachel Mellon, of Bolingbrook, alive on Jan. 31, 1996. He told police Rachel had been taking a nap for about an hour when a younger sibling discovered she was missing.

Nearly four years after her disappearance, investigators took blood, hair and saliva samples from Vince Mellon. He and his wife were later subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury, but no charges were brought.

Rachel remains missing and a private detective agency earlier this month offered a $30,000 reward in the case.

In December 2004, Vince Mellon, now of Joliet, pleaded guilty to domestic battery for hitting his wife, who is Rachel's mother, and one of their children. He was sentenced to 60 days in jail and was ordered to undergo anger management and domestic violence counseling.

He was supposed to have psychological evaluations, which in turn triggered the requirement he undergo 75 hours of alcohol abuse counseling.

That conviction came 11 months after Mellon pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of battery in another case involving one of his children. In the earlier case, he was sentenced to two years' supervision.

Mellon completed only 15 of 26 domestic violence counseling classes and did not start the alcohol abuse counseling required for the December 2004 conviction, Assistant State's Atty. Debra Joyce Wendling told the judge.

Paul Napolski, Mellon's attorney, said Mellon is working to complete the requirements.

"It's just a matter of giving this individual more time to get these things done," Napolski said.

"I don't see how putting this individual in the Will County detention facility is going to help him rehabilitate himself."

But Wendling said: "He has had a lot of time. ... He was not doing what he was court ordered to do in the time allotted."

Last year Mellon pleaded guilty to misdemeanor theft and was ordered to serve 12 months of conditional discharge and pay $309 in restitution. He also has a 2005 drunken driving case pending.

[Admin]

Reward set in '96 case of missing girl

Chicago Tribune (IL)
August 18, 2006

A private investigator announced Thursday his agency is offering a $30,000 reward for information in the decade-old case of a missing 13-year-old Bolingbrook girl.

The reward is for information that leads directly to the whereabouts and recovery of Rachel Mellon or results in the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for her disappearance, said detective James Miller, owner of Chicago-based Investigative Services Agency Inc.

"We have an indication that some people might come forward at this point in time," Miller said.

Rachel was reported missing on Jan. 31, 1996. She had stayed home from middle school because of a sore throat. Her stepfather told police she went to take a nap and was discovered missing by a younger sibling about an hour later.

Anyone with information about Rachel's disappearance is asked to call Bolingbrook police at 630-226-8620, Bolingbrook Crime Stoppers at 630-378-4772 or the Investigative Services Agency at 312-755-9700. Callers to Crime Stoppers or the agency may remain anonymous.

[Admin]

Memorial to mark decade of mourning
Father and friends to share loss of girl missing since 1996

Chicago Tribune (IL)
January 25, 2006
Author: Tonya Maxwell, Tribune staff reporter.

It was a decade ago, on Christmas Day, when Jeff Skemp learned he had parted ways with teenage coolness.

His daughter, Rachel Mellon, 13, had shed the catchy lyrics of pop music in favor of alternative sounds, she told him proudly over the phone. In other words, his Christmas present, TLC's "CrazySexyCool," "is so last season," she gently teased Skemp, then living in Dallas. Alanis Morissette was in.

That day in 1995 was the last time father and daughter spoke. A month later, Rachel disappeared from the Bolingbrook home she shared with her mother, stepfather and two half-siblings.

Police believe the 7th grader was a crime victim. Her remains have never been found, and promising tips have long since stopped coming in. Six years ago, the state's attorney brought the case to a grand jury, but no indictments were returned.

Skemp, 47, believes his only child was killed and speaks of her in the conflicted way of a man filled with questions.

"As a parent, you always have hopes and daydreams that Rachel is going to come back," he said. "But from the beginning, in the pit of my stomach, in the depths of my heart, I knew she was gone."

On Saturday, Skemp and those who loved Rachel will gather at the church where he worships, First Baptist Church in Maywood. Unless her remains are found, Rachel's friends and family expect this to be the last memorial service and a way to take one final moment to grieve publicly.

Skemp, now a taxicab dispatcher in Forest Park, has never let go of his emotions about Rachel in public, he said from his apartment. After 10 years, he needs to close this mournful book, though the final chapter is unwritten. Rachel, he said, would want that.

"This will probably be the last time I reach out to the media," he said of efforts to keep her name in headlines and on television. "I'll always be available, but right now, I'm really ready to let go and bawl my eyes out."

A bitter day

On Jan. 31, 1996, Rachel had stayed home from Ward Middle School with a sore throat.

Her stepfather, Vince Mellon, had helped raise Rachel since she was 3 and was home. He told police they played video games, and when she napped about 2:30 p.m. he walked the dog. The front door was unlocked, he said.

An hour later, a younger sibling came home and realized Rachel was missing. No one called police until her mother, Amy Mellon, returned from work about 5:30 p.m.

Neither Amy, 46, nor Vince Mellon, 39, could be reached for comment for this story.

As police investigated her husband, Amy Mellon contended her oldest child was abducted. Nearing the fourth anniversary of the disappearance, investigators took blood, hair and saliva samples from Vince Mellon. The couple later were subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury, but no one ever has been charged.

Rachel's disappearance, an open investigation, remains the major unsolved case for Bolingbrook police, said Lt. Tom Ross, who was among the searchers when she went missing. Ross recalls that frigid day, the temperature dipping to -11 degrees though the sun was bright.

Early on, authorities investigated tips that Rachel may have been taken out of state by relatives. Nothing of the sort panned out.

"Do we feel we have a theory? Of course we do, and we continue to work in that direction," Ross said.

Rachel left the house without a coat, shoes or money. No one could survive in those elements for long, he said.

Investigators questioned Rachel's girlfriends about difficult adult issues, Ross said. Occasionally, now, he'll see one of those junior high students turned young adults. He wonders how time slipped by so quickly.

Rachelfind

Among them is Carrie Johnson, 23, who named her daughter for her best friend. Isabelle Rachel is 18 months old.

Ten years ago, police asked her group about drug use and sexual relationships. But they were innocent, still just gossiping about the cute boys, school and shopping, Johnson said.

Rachel, an honor student, also was concerned about nature, clean air and recycling. Her favorite class was science. Johnson likes to think Rachel might have become an environmentalist had life worked out differently.

Even after 10 years, she continues to talk about Rachel as her best friend and has tried to keep the disappearance public in hopes of generating tips.

Johnson, too, believes Rachel is dead and sees the memorial service as a means to closure. Yet she still imagines the young woman walking in from the cold.

"Her disappearance didn't end our friendship," she said. "I don't want her to feel like if she were to walk back in my life tomorrow or 10 years from now, I don't want her to think we gave up."

Johnson is among about 20 volunteers who work with Rachelfind, a group founded four years ago by Rachel's father.

Through its Web site, www.rachelfind.com, the organization provides information about Rachel and a few other cases. The group, which doesn't accept money, tries to fill an information niche.

One goal is to link police departments with resources for finding the missing, such as ground and canine search teams, or to connect families with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, said Anne Bielby, who maintains the Web site.

The group has created public announcements and fliers. Rachelfind tries to keep disappearances in the public eye in hopes someone will remember a critical clue, Bielby said.

Bielby's family lived around the corner from Rachel's since before the disappearance. Initially, she became overprotective of her own four kids. Later she took on efforts such as handing out fliers about the case.

"I couldn't live with it--that a child could just disappear," she said.

She credits Skemp for taking on a role that isn't always easy for the family of missing children: standing open to media scrutiny.

"The media can be harsh," she said. "You have to have a parent who's willing to stand up and say, `We have to find my kid, that's the bottom line.'"

Skemp shifts from knowing his daughter's case will go unsolved to believing a miracle clue may emerge.

Regardless, Skemp said he knows his daughter is loved.

"It warms my soul that people still care after all this time," he said of the service and Rachelfind. "The main goal for me is to keep her name out there. It's the only way we're going to solve it. But it's like looking for a needle in the entire world."

Anyone with information about the Mellon case is asked to call police at 630-37-TIPS-2.

[Admin]

NEW PROSECUTOR MAY REOPEN CASE OF MISSING TEEN
DAD PUTS FAITH IN WILL'S TOMCZAK

Chicago Tribune
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.

[Admin]

POLICE ASK MISSING GIRL'S DAD TO TESTIFY
GRAND JURY FOCUSING ON '96 DISAPPEARANCE

Chicago Tribune
February 9, 2000
Author: Lola Smallwood, Tribune Staff Writer.

The father of a Bolingbrook girl missing since 1996 met Tuesday with local police, who requested that he testify before the Will County grand jury about his daughter's disappearance.

Jeff Skemp said police explained the direction of their investigation and asked him to provide the grand jury with his accounts of the disappearance.

"I came out of the meeting very encouraged," said Skemp, 47, of Maywood.

Skemp's daughter, Rachel Mellon, 13, disappeared from her Bolingbrook home on a cold January afternoon without her shoes, coat or money. She had been home from school with a sore throat.

The last person to see Rachel was her stepfather, Vince Mellon, who said he had played video games with the girl that morning.

At the time of the incident, Vince Mellon said he left to walk the family dog after Rachel decided to take a nap.

He said he didn't check on her when he returned, and the family didn't know the girl was missing until Rachel's younger sister came home from school and did not find Rachel in her room.

Vince Mellon's attorney, Gene Ognibene, said the grand jury has subpoenaed members of his client's family to testify Wednesday.

Skemp, who was living in Texas when Rachel disappeared, moved back to the Chicago area to be closer to the investigation.

Last week, Vince Mellon and Rachel's mother, Amy Mellon, testified before the grand jury about the disappearance. The Mellons' testimony came days after police collected hair, blood and saliva samples from Vince Mellon. Police also removed several household items from the Joliet home where the family had moved to.

Amy Mellon recently held a news conference defending her husband and admonishing local police for not finding Rachel.

[Admin]

BEREFT MOM BLAMES COPS
POLICE SCOLDED FOR TARGETING MATE IN TEEN VANISHING

Chicago Tribune
February 5, 2000
Author: Lola Smallwood, Tribune Staff Writer.

Two days after testifying before a grand jury looking into the disappearance of her daughter four years ago, Amy Mellon held a news conference late Friday in Joliet to berate police for considering her husband a suspect instead of finding her daughter.

Mellon said she and her husband, Vince, have conducted a private investigation into the disappearance of Rachel, 13, that has turned up some leads. But she would not say Friday what those leads were and admitted that she had not and would not share the information with authorities.

"My daughter disappeared from my home on Jan. 31, 1996, while I was at work. I did everything I could to find Rachel," Mellon, 40, said in a statement. "I continue to hold in my heart, and my mother instincts tell me, that Rachel is alive somewhere."

Vince Mellon, 33, did not speak during the news conference held at Joliet Renaissance Center, just a few blocks from the Will County Courthouse, where the Mellons were subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury Wednesday.

Home from school with a sore throat, Rachel disappeared from her Bolingbrook home on a bitterly cold January afternoon without a coat, shoes or money.

Also missing were two pillows and a blanket, police said.

The last person to see Rachel before she vanished was her stepfather, Vince Mellon.

Amy Mellon disputes any claims of new evidence by Bolingbrook police. Amy Mellon said police were "embarrassed" that nothing had become of the case after four years.

"Bolingbrook police had little intention of finding Rachel," she said.

According to her attorney, John Schrock, police led Mellon to believe that her husband is a prime suspect in the case. Vince Mellon has not been charged with any crime, his attorney, Gene Ognibene, said Friday.

Amy Mellon said it was case of Bolingbrook police making a "rush to judgment that only my husband was involved with Rachel's disappearance. I cannot believe that because I know Rachel and I know my husband."

The Mellons now live in Joliet with their two children, Jason, 10 and Ashley, 12, Mellon said she has learned of several sightings of Rachel through Internet correspondence from across the country. Initially, the family hired a private investigator to search for Rachel, Mellon said. Some leads developed and she traveled to Indiana and Texas to "stake out" locations, but then the leads ran cold.

Mellon concluded by pleading with Rachel, "If you're listening, please call me and come home."

The Mellons were called before the grand jury Wednesday, nearly a week after Bolingbrook police took blood, hair and saliva samples from Vince Mellon.

[Admin]

FRESH LOOK AT MELLON CASE
A GRAND JURY QUESTIONS THE MOTHER, STEPFATHER OF RACHEL MELLON, 13, WHO VANISHED 4 YEARS AGO.

Chicago Tribune
February 3, 2000
Author: Ken O'Brien. Special to the Tribune. Tribune staff writers Lola Smallwood and Ginger Orr contributed to this report.

The mother and stepfather of a Bolingbrook teen missing since 1996 went Wednesday before a Will County grand jury.

Amy and Vince Mellon would not speak to reporters afterward, and their attorneys offered little insight into what prompted the fresh look into the disappearance of Rachel Mellon, 13 at the time.

"We don't know what new evidence (the police) have that they didn't have four years ago," said Gene C. Ognibene, the attorney for Vince Mellon. "They are not sharing their evidence with anyone."

Amy Mellon spent two hours in the grand jury room.

Her husband was there five minutes before rejoining her in the hallway.

As their attorneys conferred, the couple embraced briefly.

Neither Ognibene nor John Vernon Schrock, the attorney for Amy Mellon, would discuss specific questions that the grand jury asked the Mellons. Both attorneys advised their clients against publicly speaking about the case.

Ognibene and Schrock said that the grand jury did not indicate that they might call back one or both of the parents. A spokeswoman for the Will County state's attorney's office said no indictments were returned Wednesday, the day they routinely are handed down.

Schrock told reporters that it is "painfully obvious" that the grand jury is focusing "on a single person."

He said Amy Mellon did not invoke her 5th Amendment rights against self-incrimination nor did she invoke a claim of spousal privilege.

"My client believes in her motherly instincts that Rachel is still alive, and there is nothing that will shake her from that," Schrock said.

Bolingbrook police would not comment on the case Wednesday.

However, Rachel's father, Jeff Skemp, 41, a dispatcher for an Oak Park cab company, said he was glad to see some movement in the case.

"For the first time in four years, I'm very optimistic that a resolution may be at hand," Skemp said. "In my heart, as well as my mind, I've accepted quite some time ago that my daughter is dead, but I need some closure. The hardest part of these last four years is not knowing what happened."

Skemp has had no contact with Amy Mellon in 3 1/2 years and said Bolingbrook police have not discussed the case with him.

The last time Skemp saw Rachel was when she visited him in Dallas in 1995. After his daughter's disappearance, he moved back to his hometown of Maywood.

According to police reports, Rachel Mellon disappeared from her Bolingbrook home on Jan. 31, 1996, when she was home sick from school.

Her winter coat, shoes and purse were found at home. Only a pillow and her slippers were missing.

Vince Mellon, who had helped raise Rachel since she was 3, told police that he and Rachel played video games, and when she took a nap, he walked the dog. He said the front door was unlocked.

As the four-year anniversary approached, Skemp urged U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert (R-Ill.) to contact the television show "America's Most Wanted" in the hope that an airing of the case would bring new leads.

On Monday, Biggert hand-delivered a packet of information to the show's producers in Washington.

Joann Donnellan said show researchers phoned Bolingbrook police, who told them of new developments in the case, including, "new leads, new technology, and that the grand jury might be involved."

Donnellan said Tuesday she didn't know what specific new evidence police might have.

"We work with police. If they want our help, we'll come in. . . . We don't want to jeopardize the case," said Donnellan, who said producers are considering a story on the disappearance.

Rachel's disappearance turned her entire community into a grieving family.

People turned out by the dozens to search the area. Local business owners displayed posters to remind the community of its missing child; many of those posters remain in store windows.

When concerned Will County residents asked Skemp whether they should hold a candlelight vigil for Rachel this year, he said he didn't want mournful tributes.

He requested that more fliers with his daughter's picture be printed and distributed. He asked schools and churches to post the fliers. Instead of sending flowers, he asked residents to help police get more dogs trained to sniff out body remains and evidence.

Countless volunteers have responded, including the owners of RLE Printing in Romeoville. Two months ago, the company sent out fliers in direct mailing packets to 10,000 homes in Bolingbrook. They also have committed to printing 2,000 more fliers.

"There's a feeling that somebody out there knows something," said Sue Elmer, who operates the company with her husband, Bob.

[Admin]

STUDY IN HEARTACHE: 3 GIRLS STILL MISSING

Chicago Tribune
May 13, 1997
Author: Maria T. Galo, Tribune Staff Writer. Free-lance reporter Jeff R. Grandziel contributed to this
article.


Elgin police have used search dogs and an Illinois State Police helicopter to comb neighborhoods, forest preserves and creeks.

They've asked the FBI for assistance. Fliers have blanketed the community, and a 24-hour telephone hot line has taken more than 75 calls

But still there's no sign of 11-year-old Brittany Martinez, who disappeared from outside her home more than four days ago.

Authorities acknowledge that they are approaching the point of needing what they describe as the "magic call"--that tip out of the blue that will help them determine where Brittany is, alive or dead.

What's happening in Elgin is common in cases of missing people, according to the FBI and criminologists. And police investigating other cases of missing children in the Chicago area also are at the point of pinning their hopes on a long-shot "magic call."

For 15 months, the parents of 13-year-old Rachel Mellon have waited for word about their daughter, who disappeared from Bolingbrook on a freezing January day without her coat or shoes.

And a Woodstock family, desperate to locate their 16-year-old daughter, Wendy Von Huben, has turned to psychics and an appearance on a TV talk show in an effort to find the girl.

In February, Von Huben ran off to Florida with her boyfriend, who later was found beaten to death near Orlando.

Since Brittany Martinez disappeared Thursday evening, Elgin police have conducted an exhaustive search. Now police are returning to every person who has been interviewed and every site that has been searched.

"We still consider everything a possibility," city spokesman Eric Stuckey said Monday. "We don't have anything that tells us to eliminate one area over another. But we become more and more concerned for her well-being as time goes on."

The painstaking investigation is a time-consuming process that can be agonizing to families waiting for news about missing children, according to authorities familiar with such cases.

"It seems like an eternity to the family," said FBI spokesman Bob Long.

Still, he said, in the Elgin girl's case "it hasn't been that long" since Brittany was last seen. She was last spotted at about 6 p.m. Thursday in front of the apartment building where she lives with her mother, stepfather and 4-year-old brother.

"This early in the investigation, there are probably a lot of things that are being redone," Long said. "You retrace your steps, talk to people again."

But if no new leads turn up, officials and relatives will find themselves resorting to hoping for that one phone call.

Yet the unexpected tip is what helps solve many cases at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, said Ben Ermini, director of case management.

"Somebody knows where that child is, someone has seen her," Ermini said.

And he said the odds that missing children will be found alive are far from hopeless. Since the center opened in 1990, 83 percent of similar cases were solved, Ermini said. And of those, about 75 percent ended with children being returned to their families, he said.

Brittany's photograph has been posted on the center's Internet page. The center describes her disappearance as an abduction by a non-relative, but it's a characterization that Elgin Police dispute.

"We haven't classified it as an abduction," Stuckey said. "We have not eliminated any reason why she might be missing."

The girl disappeared after she returned home from nearby Wing Park, police said. So far, there is no evidence of an abduction, such as witnesses reporting a struggle or ransom demands delivered to the family.

At the same time, relatives have said adamantly that Brittany had no motivation to run away.

Police have searched for fiber evidence in a car that was driven by Brittany's uncle, Edward Milka, 20, who was the last known person to have seen Brittany. Police also have questioned Milka extensively, Stuckey said.

Milka told police that he pulled up outside the apartment where Brittany lives and that Brittany got into the car, Stuckey said. Milka told officers that the two had a brief conversation before Brittany got out of the car, according to Stuckey.

The next step for Elgin police is to search the east side of Elgin and Poplar Creek, as well as abandoned train tracks that run through the city.

Tuesday, the Illinois State Police Air One helicopter, which is equipped with a heat-seeking infrared camera, will again search along local rivers, Stuckey said.

Searchers will comb the Fox River down to St. Charles, Stuckey said, expanding the search area.

But when searches fail to turn up evidence of missing people, the trail can go cold. That is why William Von Huben recently traveled to New York to discuss his missing daughter on Ricki Lake's syndicated talk show.

"Any exposure we can get just might help us find Wendy," Von Huben said. He also hopes that another TV show, "America's Most Wanted," will pick up the story.

Manhunter, a publication of "America's Most Wanted," already has spotlighted the disappearance of Rachel Mellon, but the publicity has failed to produce new leads in that case.

Bolingbrook police classify Rachel's disappearance as an open missing-person case, and they say they continue to pursue leads. But little progress apparently is being made.

Brittany's relatives strongly support the efforts of Elgin Police.

"These guys are really going at this like a mad dog after a bone," Brittany's stepfather, Scott Howlett, said Monday.

"I know in my heart that she's out there," Howlett said. "I know someplace out there she's going to find a way to get home.

[Admin]

GIRL'S YEARLONG DISAPPEARANCE A MYSTERY

Chicago Tribune
January 31, 1997
Author: Teresa Puente, Tribune Staff Writer.

Inside the sanctuary of the First Baptist Church of Maywood are photographs of Rachel Mellon cuddling a kitten, opening presents at a birthday party, and posing in a white tutu--the only tangible memories her father can hold close.

Friday marks one year since the Bolingbrook teenager disappeared, leaving her winter coat, shoes and money behind on a freezing winter day when the temperature hovered well below zero

Friends and family members will pray for her safe return in a prayer service Friday evening organized by Rachel's biological father, Jeff Skemp. The hardest part, he said, is not knowing what happened.

"My greatest fear is that I go through my whole life and never get any answers about Rachel," said Skemp, who was living in Dallas when she disappeared. He moved to west suburban Broadview in November.

"I figure I can do more being here than being down there," said Skemp, who lived with Rachel and her mother the first three years of her life.

Rachel, 13, was sick the day she disappeared and stayed home from school. She vanished that afternoon from the house in the 600 block of Melissa Drive where she lived with her mother and stepfather, Amy and Vince Mellon.

The Bolingbrook Police Department, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, and the FBI are involved in the case, which was spotlighted this month in Manhunter, a publication of the television program "America's Most Wanted."

But Skemp fears there was foul play.

"The police have no proof a crime was committed, so there can be no criminal investigation," Skemp said. "In my own opinion, I am pretty sure something criminal happened. I have no problem saying that."

But police have classified it as a missing-person case and refuse to call it a criminal investigation.

"The case is still open," said Bolingbrook Police Cmdr. Henry Bauchwitz. "We are pursuing all leads as we get them."

This month, the search for Rachel took another turn. Amy Mellon was issued a subpoena by the Will County grand jury because of her unwillingness to cooperate with authorities, said a source close to the case. But she is not the target of any investigation and has not appeared before the grand jury, the source said. The subpoena could be dropped if she cooperates, the source added.

Skemp said he has not spoken with Amy Mellon since Mother's Day.

"Amy and Vince are not cooperating," Skemp said. "They are blaming the police."

In past Tribune interviews, Amy Mellon has said she believed Rachel was abducted from her home and denied that her husband, Vince Mellon, the last person known to see Rachel, had anything to do with her disappearance.

"She's been like my daughter since she was 3 years old," said Vince Mellon, shortly after Rachel disappeared.

Amy and Vince Mellon, who have moved from Bolingbrook to another southwest suburb, did not respond to a request for an interview.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children has posted information on Rachel on its Internet site. The center also has circulated posters with a photograph of Rachel, who was 5 feet 2 inches tall, 78 pounds, with short dark brown hair and hazel eyes when she disappeared. She would now be 14 years old.

Charles Pickett, a case manager with the center, said it was not clear whether Rachel ran away or whether it was a case of foul play.

"You always want to look down both roads," he said.

Rachel had run away once before for a 12-hour period but returned home on her own. Pickett said that based on Rachel's family ties, it is unusual she has been gone so long.

About 75 percent of runaways return within the first week and 85 percent within three months, according to Illinois State Police statistics.

On the day Rachel disappeared, her stepfather, who was not working at the time, was also at home. Vince Mellon said he played video games with Rachel in the morning and left the house to walk the family dog about 2:30 p.m. while Rachel took a nap.

Mellon said that the dog broke loose and that he returned to the house after he could not catch it.

Rachel's younger sister returned home from school about 3:15 p.m. and looked in Rachel's room but did not find her. The sister did not mention that until 5 p.m., when her mother returned from work and noticed Rachel was not in her bedroom. They called police about 6 p.m. to report her missing.

Anyone who has information about the case can call the Bolingbrook police at 630-226-0600 or the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 800-843-5678

[Admin]

FAMILY HOLDS OUT HOPE FOR MISSING DAUGHTER

Chicago Tribune
May 7, 1996
Author: Teresa Puente, Tribune Staff Writer.

Every time the phone rings in his Dallas home, Jeff Skemp thinks it might be the call with news of his missing 13-year-old daughter, Rachel Mellon.

The past three months have been difficult for Skemp, Rachel's biological father. He lives more than 1,000 miles from Melissa Drive in southwest suburban Bolingbrook, where Rachel lived with her mother and stepfather, Amy and Vince Mellon. And in the quiet hours at home, after working a shift at a cellular phone warehouse, Skemp worries

Rachel mysteriously disappeared on Jan. 31, a freezing winter day, without a coat, shoes or money. The wind that sent temperatures below zero the day she disappeared has turned into a light spring breeze, but Rachel is still missing.

"I still have hope, but I feel more and more helpless every day," Skemp said.

The Bolingbrook Police Department, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and now the FBI are involved in the investigation, which has yielded few clues.

The FBI became involved at the request of Bolingbrook police, said Bob Long, spokesman for the Chicago FBI office. The federal agency can play a procedural role, in the event the local department needs assistance in other law enforcement jurisdictions in Illinois and out of state, Long said.

"We can eliminate a lot of the red tape," Long said.

Long, who declined to comment on the specifics of the investigation, said the agency also could assist in developing a profile of a potential suspect.

"If nothing else, you have two sets of investigators, at the federal and local level, working together," Long said. "Usually two is better than one."

But for now, said Bolingbrook Deputy Police Chief Mike Calcagno, "There's zero, zip. We haven't overlooked anything."

Shortly after Rachel disappeared, authorities conducted a door-to-door search. They scoured nearby forest preserves and interviewed Rachel's friends and relatives. They searched her Bolingbrook home.

Authorities also have searched Skemp's home, his parents' Dallas home, and his sister's home in Oxford, Miss., Skemp said.

Days after Rachel disappeared, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children distributed an updated photograph of the girl through the Internet and through direct mail for the group's poster program.

In the first two months the photo, depicting a smiling girl with straight teeth, hazel eyes and with a short bob-style haircut, did not generate one lead.

"It's kind of unusual. We usually get a trickle of leads coming in," said Ben Ermini, director of case management with the non-profit center in Arlington, Va., which works in cooperation with the Department of Justice and local law enforcement to help recover or find missing children.

In the past month, the center received two leads, Ermini said, which they passed on to local authorities.

But there are still no solid clues. Did Rachel run away on her own, or did someone else play a role in her disappearance?

Her mother, Amy Mellon, has said she believes Rachel was abducted, but there is no evidence to support that theory. Others have cast suspicion on the stepfather, Vince Mellon, but police say there is no evidence to indicate foul play.

If Rachel did run away, and she ran away once before for a 12-hour period, she is a statistical anomaly.

About 85 percent of the more than 16,000 Illinois juveniles who ran away from home in 1994 returned home within three months. Seventy-five percent returned within a week, according to Illinois State Police figures.

"I just want to know what happened," Skemp said. "The hard part is not knowing. Is she out there somewhere?"

His parents, Ken and Lucy Skemp, were among the last people to speak to Rachel, about 11 a.m. on the day she disappeared. She was feeling ill and did not go to school that day.

By all accounts, it was a regular phone call.

The last person to see Rachel was her stepfather, Vince Mellon. They played video games earlier in the day and he went for a walk with the dog about 2:30 p.m. and Rachel said she was going to take a nap, Vince Mellon said.

He said that the dog broke loose and that he returned home without the dog about a half-hour later. A neighbor and a businessman in the area returned the dog.

Rachel's younger brother and sister returned home from school about 3:15 p.m. and her sister did not find Rachel in her room. She did not tell her parents until they noticed Rachel was missing about 5 p.m., when Rachel's mother, Amy Mellon, returned from work. They called the police about 6 p.m.

The Mellons estimated Rachel disappeared between 2:30 and 3:15 p.m.

They hope she will be found safe, but they worry because so much time has passed.

Amy Mellon has gone back to work for a supply distributing company, after taking several weeks off.

"Work is the only thing that gives me salvation," she said.

Pat Mellon, Vince's mother, said they take it day by day.

"We just keep praying we'll hear good news soon," she said

[Admin]

NATIONAL GROUP'S EXPERTISE USED IN SEARCH FOR TEEN
PHOTO IS CREATED THAT LOOKS LIKE GIRL

Chicago Tribune
February 12, 1996
Author: Teresa Puente, Tribune Staff Writer.

A photograph of Rachel Mellon, the Bolingbrook teenager missing since Jan. 31, depicts a smiling girl with hazel eyes and dark brown hair cut in a neat bob just below her ears.

It's not the image of her that has been seen on television and in newspapers over the last week and a half, but the new photo is indicative of the kind of effort taken each time a child ends up missing, a circumstance that inspires shivers of fear in parents everywhere

The new photo shows the missing 13-year-old with short hair, a style her parents had not yet captured on film.

Technicians at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, or NCMEC, altered a picture of the girl to create the most accurate and recent portrait possible. The non-profit agency then posted that rendition on the World Wide Web and disseminated it nationwide through its poster card program using direct mail and kiosks.

This is the modus operandi for the Arlington, Va.-based group, which is at the forefront of the search for missing children in this country: get the word out, get the public to help, find the child.

Working in cooperation with the Justice Department and local law-enforcement agencies, the group helps recover or locate missing children through a network of more than 460 private partners who help disseminate photos and information.

"We distribute 57 million cards each week," said Ben Ermini, director of case management for the organization. "One in seven children that we put on the card is located."

Last week, they were on the Mellon case. By Friday, the new photo was being distributed and the girl's name was added to the agency's case list of missing children that numbers in the thousands.

She is one of about 850,000 children reported missing in the U.S. each year. About 65 percent are classified as runaways, according to statistics reported to NCMEC from 1990 to 1995.

Whether Rachel falls into the runaway category is uncertain. Though she left home once before for a 12-hour period, it's unclear if that is what happened or if she was taken against her will.

Her family is concerned because when she disappeared from her home in the 600 block of Melissa Drive, she did not take a winter coat, shoes or a purse. Her mother and stepfather believe she was only wearing sweat pants, a sweat shirt and slippers. All that is missing from the house are two pillows and a blanket.

Police conducted a door-to-door search of the neighborhood and have interviewed friends, family and neighbors, but nobody has heard from the girl. There is no evidence of foul play.

The length of time Rachel has been gone, 12 days, also is different from that of most runaways. Of the 16,148 runaways reported to Illinois State Police in 1994, the latest statistics available, about 75 percent returned within a week.

"The vast majority of missing children are located and returned home quickly," said Master Sgt. Kurt Kabat, with the intelligence bureau of the state police.

About 25 percent of missing children are taken in family abductions, most times involving a custodial agreement, according to the NCMEC.

A smaller number, about 5.5 percent, are cast in the category of non-family abductions, where a person takes the child away with the intent to harm and no intention of returning the child safely.

Polly Klaas, the 12-year-old northern California girl abducted from her home and murdered in 1994, "falls in this category," Ermini said. Her accused killer, Richard Allen Davis, is on trial in San Jose, Calif.

The Mellon case falls into a more vague fourth category called "lost, injured or otherwise missing." These children are or were missing for periods of time because they were lost or hurt or for unknown reasons.

"The child all of a sudden disappears. There's no indication she was abducted. She left without a lot of clothing in cold weather conditions," Ermini said of the Mellon case. "We don't have a lot of information."

Of the 18,919 cases Ermini's agency dealt with between Jan. 1, 1990, and Dec. 31, 1995, 16,884, nearly 90 percent, have been resolved. Out of all the cases, only 318 had the worst possible ending with the child being found dead.

Experts say all missing-children cases should be treated seriously and family members should contact police immediately, even if they suspect the child is a runaway.

Parents should also keep up-to-date photos, dental records and fingerprints of their children. They also should know who their children's friends are and keep their full names and phone numbers handy.

"A lot of people have thought they'd seen a girl who looks like Rachel, but it turns out to be another dead end," said her mother, Amy Mellon, at a fundraiser for her daughter Sunday at Ward Middle School in Bolingbrook.

Money raised will fund a reward for information leading to the location of Rachel Mellon.

"We want to keep the interest alive. We have hope we will find her," said Amy Mellon, who hopes her daughter chose to leave home on her own and not against her will.

"Come home," she would like to tell her daughter. "We miss her and we love her a lot."

If you have any information about Rachel Mellon, call the Bolingbrook Police Department at 708-739-1811 or the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678. The national group's Internet address ishttp://www.missingkids.org

[Admin]

CLINGING TO HOPE FOR MISSING GIRL
NO CLUES FOUND IN CASE OF BOLINGBROOK TEEN

Chicago Tribune
February 7, 1996
Author: Teresa Puente, Tribune Staff Writer.

Another day passed with no word of Rachel Mellon, but Tuesday police did hear from a man in a maroon car seen in the Bolingbrook neighborhood about the time the 13-year-old could have disappeared.

The man was in the area on business Jan. 31 when he saw a stray dog that belonged to the Mellon family, police said. A neighbor of the Mellons recognized the white German Shepherd and returned it to the family with the man's assistance, police said

"He was, in fact, a good Samaritan," said Bolingbrook Deputy Police Chief Mike Calcagno.

The Mellons estimate Rachel disappeared from their home in the 600 block of Melissa Drive between 2:30 and 3:15 p.m., when her stepfather took the family dog for a walk. They called police about 6 p.m. when they discovered Rachel was not in her room.

Rachel stayed home from school that day with a sore throat. The last person to see her was her stepfather, Vince Mellon, when he left the house to walk the dog. The dog broke loose of its chain, Mellon said, and he returned home believing the dog would find its way home later.

Shortly after Mellon returned home, a neighbor was at the door with the dog found by the man in the maroon-colored car.

"He saw the dog loose. He helped return it to the house. It's all been cleared up," Calcagno said. "Sadly, we still haven't heard from Rachel."

Police have said repeatedly they have no evidence of foul play. Rachel ran away once before, but she had left a note and returned after 12 hours, her mother said.

Meanwhile, Rachel's family and friends are passing out fliers in the hopes someone will see the 7th-grade honors student.

"We're just sitting here by the phone. We hope we hear something soon," said her mother, Amy Mellon.

A fundraiser will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday at Ward Middle School, 200 Recreation Drive, Bolingbrook, to establish a reward for information on Rachel's whereabouts.

Rachel was wearing yellow sweat pants, a pink sweat shirt and slippers when last seen by her stepfather. She is 5 feet 2 inches tall, weighs 78 pounds and has dark brown hair and hazel eyes.

Anyone with information about Rachel may call 708-739-1811

[Admin]

FAMILY SEEKING GIRL AND ANSWERS
BOLINGBROOK TEEN MISSING FOR 5 DAYS

Chicago Tribune
February 6, 1996
Author: Teresa Puente, Tribune Staff Writer.

The whereabouts of a Bolingbrook girl on Monday remained a mystery.

Rachel Mellon, 13, disappeared from her home in a quiet subdivision in the southwest suburb Wednesday afternoon, but so far police have no evidence of foul play. It was not known whether the 7th grader ran away from home or was taken against her will

"We're not overlooking anything," said Bolingbrook Deputy Chief Mike Calcagno.

The girl's mother and stepfather remain concerned because her winter coat, shoes and purse were found at home, and Rachel disappeared during the dangerous cold spell last week. Only a blanket and two pillows were missing from the house.

"I'm really hoping she's safe somewhere," said her mother, Amy Mellon. "I just can't think the worst at this time."

Friends and relatives gathered at the Mellon home Monday picking up fliers of the smiling Rachel, who maintained an A average at Ward Middle School. A few pizzerias also helped distribute the more than 7,000 black-and-white fliers printed up by the family.

"My whole crew is involved. This hits just too close to home," said Dawn Turner, a manager at a Domino's Pizza, which is distributing fliers of the missing girl with each pizza delivered.

Rachel ran away from home once before, but to stay away so long without her belongings is out of character, her family said.

Last spring, the girl wrote a note and left the house for a 12-hour period because she was afraid she would be blamed for a household item her younger siblings broke, her parents said. Rachel slept outside a friend's house and then called her step-grandparents, who took her home.

"She would not leave with everything here," including her favorite jewelry, Amy Mellon said.

The last person to see Rachel was her stepfather, Vince Mellon, who has helped raise the girl since she was 3. Between jobs, Mellon was at home when Rachel stayed home from school Wednesday with a sore throat. He said they played video games and then he decided to walk the family dog about 2:30 p.m. when Rachel said she was going to take a nap.

Mellon left the front door unlocked when he left to walk the white German shepherd. During their walk, the dog broke free of its collar to chase after a rabbit in a nearby field, he said. Mellon said he left the dog at the field, believing it could find its own way home.

Mellon returned to the house, and a few minutes later, a neighbor knocked on the door with his dog, he said.

A passer-by in a maroon or red car apparently found the dog and alerted a neighbor who recognized it, police said.

Police were seeking to interview the man who found the dog in case he noticed anything unusual in the area. Calling the man a good Samaritan, Calcagno said police were not connecting the man to Rachel's disappearance.

Vince Mellon said the family did not realize Rachel was missing until dinnertime. When they did not find her in the house, they called friends and later police.

The family estimated she disappeared in a short window of time-- between 2:30 and 3:15 p.m. When her younger sister arrived home from school about 3:15 p.m., she did not see Rachel in her room but did not tell anyone until they could not find her later, the family said.

"It's been five days and we haven't heard from her," Vince Mellon said Monday. "As cold as it's been, it doesn't make sense."

Police have interviewed friends, neighbors and relatives, but they have no suspects because there is no evidence of a crime.

"We're looking at everybody as a witness," Calcagno said.

Rachel's birth father, Jeff Skemp, flew in from Dallas Saturday after hearing of her disappearance. The day the girl disappeared, she called her biological grandparents in Texas.

"It was a regular phone call," Skemp said, adding that Rachel did not say anything to indicate she had problems.

Rachel was wearing yellow sweat pants, a pink sweatshirt and slippers when last seen by her stepfather. She is 5 feet 2 inches tall, 78 pounds with dark brown hair and hazel eyes.

Her mother said she is an avid reader who earned a near-perfect report card with only one B last semester. She often watched her two younger siblings and baby-sat for a neighbor's son, giving him reading and writing quizzes.

"She's very creative," said the neighbor, Crystal Pitte, 35. "She's a beautiful child. She looks like a young Vanessa Williams.