ABRAMS SEARCH LEADS TO BOYFRIENDS HOUSE
Date: Abt 1995
By Tamara Sharman
The nearly five-year search for Robin Abrams has led police to a Joliet home. Illinois State Police recently dug up the basement of a Joliet residence looking for the remains of Abrams, said Master Sgt. Michael Stavola. "We did not find a body," he said. Stavola would not reveal if the police discovered any evidence at the site. The search for Abrams will continue at the home in the near future, he said. "We're still looking at the site. We're going to open some holes along the foundation and have a cadaver dog come in to see if there are any indications of remains," Stavola said.
Abrams, 28, a former Will County sheriff's deputy, disappeared on Oct. 4, 1990, only hours after driving away from her home in the Beecher area. She was last seen buying gasoline at a Joliet service station. Her red Dodge Daytona and her purse were found in Harvey the next day. State police investigators claim at least one witness saw two men dump her car in Harvey.
Stavola would not reveal why police have targeted the Joliet home for a search for Abrams' body.
He said the home's foundation was poured four to six weeks before the woman vanished. "Other things are done after a foundation is laid," he noted, explaining why the search continues.
About four to six months ago, police used a ground penetrating radar device at the Joliet home. The device indicated “a variance under the ground,” according to Stavola. "It showed something different than the general characteristics of the -· ground." Stavola was one of the police officers who excavated the home's basement. "It was dusty and noisy and hard work," he said. The basement floor has been repaired since the excavation.
The search was done with the consent of the homeowner, according to Stavola. Agencies besides the state police assisted, he said.
The Illinois State , with Police Sgt. lead Larry the Abrams investigation, with Sgt. Larry Brouk in charge of the probe. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office also are involved.
“Its an ongoing investigation, “said Sgt. Martin Shifflet of the Will County Sheriff’s Department, who is assigned to the prosecutor’s office as an investigator.
Police and prosecutors have said they are operating under the assumption that Abrams is dead and not missing voluntarily. But Barbara Abrams, the missing woman's mother, retains hope that her daughter is alive. "I'm still hoping that she's just hiding someplace because that man had her really afraid," she said.
Barbara Abrams said she believes she knows who is behind her daughter’s disappearance and she is highly critical of police efforts to solve the mystery.
"Someone is covering something up”, she claimed. "I'm getting more bitter every day."
Police have tried to determine if two Elwood stepbrothers were involved in Abrams' disappearance. Neither man has been charged with a crime related to the Abrams case.
Abrams was romantically involved with one of the men, who was then a member of the auxiliary sheriff's police, court documents indicate. Their relationship ended in October 1988 when the married man, who was 18 years older than Abrams, bit the woman, according to court documents.
Each accused the other of harassment after the affair ended.
Abrams filed a federal lawsuit in December 1989 alleging sexual harassment and civil rights violations after her dismissal from the Sheriff’s Department. Her former lover was one of the defendants named in the lawsuit.
The Abrams case resulted in a landmark ruling handed down by the Illinois Supreme in October 1992 that set new guidelines for what evidence can be subpoenaed by a grand jury.
Based on the evidence found in Abrams’ abandoned Dodge, a Will County grand jury in 1991 issued subpoenas ordering the two suspects to appear in a lineup and provide public and head hair samples, fingerprints and blood samples.