Hi Everyone!
I just wanted to pop in because this is local to me and I can give a little bit of insight into the general area. I don't live in NWI (Northwest Indiana) and I haven't for quite some time, but I'm in Chicago and I lived in Hammond until I was in Middle School when my mother moved us out. My grandmother still had a home in Hammond before she died. I have friends and know many people in from Gary and a few that are still hold outs there. Not so much in the city proper, but out near the lake...not that it makes a bit of difference in that area.
Hammond in general has done nothing but go down hill for the last 20 years or so. It's always been a working class town, my grandfather (God rest him) was a police Lieutenant there. Back in the day, it was not a bad place to live. Now, it's no better than a lot of the places on the South side of the city. **That is saying something because only the very worst crimes make the news here, because there is SO much** The only exception is the crime is not as well reported as it is in Chicago. This goes from the Southeast side of the city all the way around the lake to Gary. Gary has been bad since I was a little girl in the mid 80s.
A poster above stated correctly that when the steel mills closed the whole place went to he!!. This is no joke. While I can still smell a steel mill from miles around, I have no inclination to even be in the vicinity of NWI. It's a scary place these days where awful things happen, a lot. Please don't get me wrong, there are still hardworking good people there trying to hold strong, but if they don't go further south or east, they are in a prime position to be a victim of a number of crimes.
Gary is a wasteland. I'm not exaggerating this at all. These abandoned homes that these poor women were found in are an example of hundreds, if not thousands of abandoned homes. Entire neighborhoods are empty save for a few families holding on to their homes. Gary has a plan in place and is currently demolishing homes that have been abandoned and condemned, I have no idea what processes they go through prior to bringing in the heavy equipment and I don't know what's done with the rubble.
Gary Indiana would be a perfect dumping ground for this thing, or any others like him. I wonder how many homes have been demolished this summer that weren't given a proper going over, there are SO MANY of them. There could be so many more of these poor women, waiting to be found, or already hauled away in demolition debris. There are also surrounding communities to take into account. Merriville, Hobart, East Chicago in Indiana. Lansing, Lynwood, Glenwood, Chicago Heights, South Holland, Harvey, Calumet City...the list in Illinois, goes on and on and on. These towns also have a plethora of abandoned properties and a rather high level of crime.
My DH thinks he's a bad azz for growing up on the Northwest Side of Chicago. When we go to visit my family and have to get off the highway for any reason, he is a bit wide eyed and panicked. It's a very, very scary and sad place once you get past Kennedy Avenue on the Borman (I80/94). It's not entirely pleasant prior to that either. :'(
This monster has been there for awhile, doing as he pleased and who knows what he not telling LE.
There is also a very high concentration of strip clubs in any of the above areas...which would probably include this freaks' targeted victim.
:rose: :rose: :rose: for all the families that are hurting tonight and I hope that justice is done for all of these women.
