On Friday, February 23rd, 2007, John Spira disappeared from his business, Universal Cable Construction, located in West Chicago, IL at approximately a little after 7 pm. This is the last time anyone saw John Spira, although there is debate whether or not it was a vendor at the business or his business partner, Dave, who was the last one to see him alive. Either way, John Spira has not been seen or heard from since that night. When "Chicago Johnnie" did not show up the following night, February 24th to play with his band,
The Rabble Rousers, everyone was convinced there was something seriously wrong.
On the day of his disappearance he had finally come to settlement terms regarding a divorce from his wife Suzanne. After court he ended up going to work at Universal Cable Construction in time for the office barbeque. He parked his Ford Excursion in the front lot like usual. His last cell phone call was a little after 7 pm to set up a meeting for dinner with a friend at 8:30 pm in Oak Brook, IL. He never arrived. I have not read any information about who the person was he was planning on meeting at 8:30pm.
The show,
Disappeared, did an episode called,
When the Music Stopped, featuring this case. One detail I remembered was that John had originally wanted to meet his girlfriend, Renatta, for dinner, but she had something else going on and John got a little irritated by her not wanting to meet up for dinner. I am guessing the person he was meeting for dinner at 8:30 pm was not Renatta. I could have my information mixed up though.
If you want more details about this case, I will link the first part of a
CrimeWatch Daily special done about the case below. One other interesting aspect of the case is a suspicious fire that burned the Universal Cable Construction business to the ground in September 2007, not long after a missing John Spira sign placed across the street from the business was stolen.
The case has a main person of interest in the business partner, Dave, believed to be the last person to see John Spira alive. Dave claims a vendor inside the business was the last person to see John Spira alive while the vendor claims when he left Dave was the last one inside the business with John.
Three main important details about the case include:
1. John Spira's Ford Excursion had been moved to the back gated lot of Universal Cable
after he had disappeared. No one knows how it got moved there.
2. John Spira's cell phone signal never left the vicinity of the nearest cell phone tower closest to Universal Cable Construction. At around 11 pm it stopped pinging.
3. A mysterious roll of plastic sheeting was missing from Universal Cable Construction after John Spira went missing.
During the course of the investigation it was learned John was seeing a few women, one of whom was married. While the business partner appears like the most likely suspect, it could also be one of those people who may have had a grudge with John.
Most of the suspicion seems to center around John's business partner, Dave. It is thought that he alone or with help from John's ex-wife, Suzanne, are responsible for his disappearance. But thinking something is not the same as having proof a crime was committed. And that is where the case stands currently. Suzanne is no longer alive. She died a few years after John Spira's disappearance.
The police seemed to try to do everything they could to find John Spira, but without cooperation from his business partner and no solid leads, the case seems frozen. And even though it appears unlikely, it has to be considered that maybe John Spira disappeared himself. It is hard to believe he would disappear if he was setting up a time to meet for dinner the same night.
Most likely this case some sort of foul play. But if John Spira is dead, where is his body? If he had his cell phone on him at the time of his murder and the cell phone was still pinging off the same tower near his business, it stands to reason his body is probably somewhere near the business. But what about the missing sheet of plastic? Maybe John's body was transported in his own vehicle to another location? This could also explain why his vehicle was moved. But would his cell phone be left behind while his body was moved?
After all these years I can understand why this is such a difficult case to solve. There is a lot of suspicion, but without more information, it is difficult to even theorize about what happened the night of February 23, 2007. There have been numerous ground searches near his business, but nothing has ever been found. Still the case remains open with the hope that someday someone can help find John Spira. This is the type of case where you hope that someday there is some sort of closure for the family and they can finally figure out what happened to John Spira.