Due to the fact that Stearns School road intersects with Gurnee Mills shopping Center and the car was left at the end of School Stearns Road, my guess is that she stopped at the mall for something and was robbed/hijacked for money or other nefarious crime. Perp drove car east on Stearns School Road and dumped it and burned it to get rid of evidence. I hope police have leads based on credit card activity or cameras in the area. Since it was in broad daylight and they know a pretty good window of time, I'm hoping they can solve this for the family's sake.
Found Deceased WI - Kathleen Ryan, adult, teacher, car found burned with body inside, St. Francis, 2 Feb 2019
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I would be Shocked if it were personal.
I'd add that it's also very easy, if you're not pretty familiar with the mall, to get disoriented and head in the wrong direction. Gurnee Mills is ringed with what can seem like concentric circles and I'll just say I've headed off way in the wrong way before when exiting. Not that where she is found is way off from the mall, but could have been another reason for her to be in that area.
Someone mentioned her possibly helping someone out of gas/broken down, that could be a theory IMHO.
Someone mentioned her possibly helping someone out of gas/broken down, that could be a theory IMHO.
She was found in the far north suburbs. This is not an express way but a smaller highway that runs along the north shore. I live hear and this is not a dangerous area by any means. She was found near very nice homes and horse farms. She also wouldn’t have on 41 if she had stopped at Gurnee Mills. This mall is directly off 94. Route 41 is way east of Mundelein. I believe she would have taken 94 to get to Carmel HS. I grew up in Mundelein and would never take 41 coming from WI.
We don't know that KR took route 41 voluntarily. Her son said it was not her normal route. I think she was found where her perp wanted to be. Every area should be considered dangerous in this day and age.
JMO
LarkBunting
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While that’s very true, that nowhere is truly safe, the area where she was found is a nice area & not where anyone would expect to find a burning car with a body inside in his or her driveway. It’s not like a downtown urban city or south side of Chicago type dangerous, I think is what posters are trying to say.
It is, however, an easy & quick trip from Gurnee Mills & downtown-ish Gurnee, which has its fair share of problems...but, more like store robberies & fighting groups of teens at Great America & such, not...this.
Jeez Louise- first it was "omg she was in a bad area" and now it's "every area should be considered bad in this day and age".
Violent crime has decreased sharply in the US over the last 25 years:
5 facts about crime in the U.S.
we just live in a hyper-connected world with 24 hours news vying for eyeballs and sites like this that chronicle every heinous act in the US and beyond.
Most violent acts like rape and murder are committed by someone the victim knows (see here, from 2012 but more recent data shows this holds true) " https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/vvcs9310.pdf
We see a lot of stranger crimes on this board and in the news because they are the most unusual and attention-grabbing, and there's probably a bunch of psychological reasons for this (if it's random it could happen to anyone, if it's random maybe something can be learned from it on how to protect yourself so it doesn't happen to you, etc.)
That said, gang violence *is* a huge problem in very small specific areas throughout the US (I live and work in one of these areas and have worked with young incarcerated gang members). But almost all gang-related murders are between people known to each other. Doesn't make it any less tragic, but there it is. Yes, it's true innocent people get caught in stray gunfire, yes gang members might steal a car/burglarize/assault someone. But these weird gang initiation stories and and reflexively blaming gangs for murders of innocent strangers- the statistics just don't bear this out. These stories when they do happen get an outsize amount of coverage, but it's just not that common. Gang members killing each other ? Sadly that happens with some regularity. Gang members killing random people? Not nearly as often as intimate partners. family members, "friends" etc.
I think that it's possible a stranger killed Kathleen and lit her on fire to hide DNA. I guess it's also possible that this was a car-jacking gone terribly wrong. But gang initiation is waaaaaay down the list of possible scenarios based on statistics alone.
Violent crime has decreased sharply in the US over the last 25 years:
5 facts about crime in the U.S.
we just live in a hyper-connected world with 24 hours news vying for eyeballs and sites like this that chronicle every heinous act in the US and beyond.
Most violent acts like rape and murder are committed by someone the victim knows (see here, from 2012 but more recent data shows this holds true) " https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/vvcs9310.pdf
We see a lot of stranger crimes on this board and in the news because they are the most unusual and attention-grabbing, and there's probably a bunch of psychological reasons for this (if it's random it could happen to anyone, if it's random maybe something can be learned from it on how to protect yourself so it doesn't happen to you, etc.)
That said, gang violence *is* a huge problem in very small specific areas throughout the US (I live and work in one of these areas and have worked with young incarcerated gang members). But almost all gang-related murders are between people known to each other. Doesn't make it any less tragic, but there it is. Yes, it's true innocent people get caught in stray gunfire, yes gang members might steal a car/burglarize/assault someone. But these weird gang initiation stories and and reflexively blaming gangs for murders of innocent strangers- the statistics just don't bear this out. These stories when they do happen get an outsize amount of coverage, but it's just not that common. Gang members killing each other ? Sadly that happens with some regularity. Gang members killing random people? Not nearly as often as intimate partners. family members, "friends" etc.
I think that it's possible a stranger killed Kathleen and lit her on fire to hide DNA. I guess it's also possible that this was a car-jacking gone terribly wrong. But gang initiation is waaaaaay down the list of possible scenarios based on statistics alone.
YaYa_521
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I have never been to the area so I have no dog in this fight. However I'd like to remind us that "It's a bad area" vs. "It's not a bad area" is a subjective opinion until the stats and reports start flying around here.
Someone from the Bronx would laugh at those who believe it is a bad area while the old grandpapa in say Cornfield, Iowa, USA would think Sesame Street might be a bad area. Objectivity comes with facts (sometimes). Apparently it was bad the other day when Ms. Ryan was traveling...unless it was a suicide (personally I don't think it was).
MOOoooooooooooooo MOO Moooooooooo. As usual.
Someone from the Bronx would laugh at those who believe it is a bad area while the old grandpapa in say Cornfield, Iowa, USA would think Sesame Street might be a bad area. Objectivity comes with facts (sometimes). Apparently it was bad the other day when Ms. Ryan was traveling...unless it was a suicide (personally I don't think it was).
MOOoooooooooooooo MOO Moooooooooo. As usual.
and extreme traffic due to major construction. If she follows Waze or google maps, it often takes you on 41 to avoid delays.
If this was a carjacking, why go to a nice area, park in a secluded driveway and light the car on fire? Why not an area that is known for violence? Surely it would make more sense. How did the perp get back to where he lives after lighting the car on fire? How did he/she drive the car with a dead woman inside? Or was she still alive? Or was she in the trunk. Maybe she convinced the perp that she could get him money from an atm. Will they be able to tell if she was murdered beforehand? How did he get the means to set the car on fire so it would be engulfed in flames immediately? Sorry...I'm probably being too logical for a crime that had no logic to begin with but still.....
Schmitz5100
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Whatever the crime ends up being, it seems like an odd location. I hope we hear more soon!
LarkBunting
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Yes, that was in the news - just 1,000 feet from a gas station that is also a truck stop.
cluciano63
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Ot but recently two teen boys were beaten to death after meeting up with ? for a drug deal. They met up by a middle school in my neighborhood, which is a decent suburb in Albuquerque. Their bodies were found about 15 miles away on the mesa (near where the mass grave of 13 women was found some years ago). Now that spot is a place that has been used to dump bodies before, but the place where the were abducted from was just an average neighborhood of family homes. Anyway, point being the crime had two scenes. Which may be the case here...this poor woman, and her family. Jmo
Eleanor Rigby
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ITA that the odd location and obvious use of accelerant make it not seem to fit the usual pattern of car jackings. A burned body fits more with a personal murder, from the crime stories I recall. However, I suppose it's possible that there were multiple perps; one or more who followed Kathleen's car in their car while another perp, or Kathleen under threat, drove to the site of the fire. The perps used accelerant brought in their car to set Kathleen's on fire, then all fled in their car. But I still can't find a motive that would make all this extra work, coordination and risk worthwhile for the stereotypical gang members. What did they get? A bit of cash, some (quickly cancelled) credit cards, her wedding rings, gifts for her young grandkids? Couldn't they just have robbed her with pantyhose or bandannas over their faces, or is that out of style? Admittedly, I could be way off track, but I got the gut feeling at the beginning that Kathleen was the target. However, based on the info that has been made public, I don't see a motive or a perp. All JMO and speculation.
Eleanor Rigby
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Well, here's a newly-posted case where burning a body was personal! However, I hope this crazy case is not at all similar to what happened to poor Kathleen. I just have it in my head that body burning is "personal," but I would love to be wrong for her and her family's sake.
MO - Amy Murray, 41, poisoned husband & set him on fire to marry inmate, Miller Co., Dec 2018
MO - Amy Murray, 41, poisoned husband & set him on fire to marry inmate, Miller Co., Dec 2018
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cuttlebone
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So glad someone could drop in to personify my point.
LarkBunting
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Take this for what it is, JMHO, but I have several mutual friends with the Ryan family, which in no way makes me an expert in this case or anything else, but I have not heard or read anything indicating that anyone thinks this was a personal attack. Personally, I will be shocked it if turns out to be anything other than some random psycho criminal who happened upon her. Again, JMHO, as again, I’m not a verified insider.
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