A new development has emerged in the unsolved murder of Tammy Jo Zywicki.
On August 23, 1992, 21-year-old Tammy was driving from Evanston, Illinois, to Grinnell College in Iowa when her car broke down along Interstate 80 near La Salle, Illinois.
Witnesses reported seeing Tammy standing near her white 1985 Pontiac T1000. A semi-truck was also reportedly seen near her vehicle.
Her car was later found abandoned and towed by Illinois State Police.
Tammy never made it back to college.
Nine days later, on September 1, 1992, her body was discovered along Interstate 44 near Mt. Vernon in Lawrence County, Missouri, between Springfield and Joplin. She had been stabbed to death.
For more than three decades, investigators have worked to determine who killed Tammy and how she was transported from Illinois to Missouri.
Now, Illinois State Police have announced a new person of interest:
Theresa “Teri” Belenske, formerly Theresa Vega.
Belenske was 32 years old at the time of Tammy’s death and died in 2014 at the age of 54.
According to investigators, Belenske was known to hitchhike and may have traveled with the unidentified truck driver investigators believe could have had a connection to Tammy’s murder.
Police are seeking information about Belenske and the people she may have traveled with from the late 1980s through the mid-1990s.
She had ties to several California communities, including:
Oceanside
Vista
Pomona
San Bernardino
Fontana
But investigators stress that Belenske is NOT a suspect. She is being identified as a person of interest.
The unidentified truck driver remains an important part of the investigation. Police described him as a white male, approximately 35–40 years old, over six feet tall, with dark, bushy hair. A semi-truck was seen near Tammy’s car shortly before she disappeared.
After 34 years, Tammy’s murder remains unsolved.
Credit by: Emmi