GUILTY IL - Kristina Wesselman, 15, raped & murdered, Glen Ellyn, 21 July 1985

[Cubby]

from your quote...
was last seen in the store about 4 p.m. Sunday

The time on the receipt had 441 pm i believe. It took her 40 minutes or so inside the store to buy a candy bar and soda?

He said, he seen her in the store around 4 pm.
She had to be chatting with someone, perhaps between the time she was seen, up to the time she bought the items, then left.
Or perhaps that was her nature, to spend lot of time browsing inside the store or what not.

What a dream it would be, if we had surveillance video from that store at the time!

just to add.... If the Jewel was huge, and some are... the two liter soda could have been on one end and the candy another. Also, sometimes on the weekends the lines are very long in the grocery store so it is possible some of that time might have been waiting in line. I've often walked into a line a Jewel thinking oh no, I am gonna be in this line longer than I shopped.

 

[Cubby]

someone followed her on her path back to her house and grabbed her from behind, after leaving the store or passed her as she was returning home after buying the candy-bar and soda. They grabbed her, and dragged her to the trees. They had to know the trees were there i would think, so that would make it a local.
Until LE documents tell us otherwise, i would say she was followed back on the path towards home, and grabbed from behind, taken to the spot she was found and murdered there. She may had been engaged with someone inside or outside the store, between 4pm and 441pm as shown by the time on the receipt. And the killer may had left on the path heading towards the jewel store afterwords.
But of course this is all speculation, and assumptions on my part.
Until we are able to see any official documents speculation is all we can do.

If it was not someone she knew, then i would ask LE, if they were here ri8ght now. If they checked to see if any new people moved in the area before hand, any moved out shortly thereafter, or any persons released from prison on parole that may have been released into the area.

I don't understand this case, how many possible suspects could there be.
Every one they was able to check. Something tells me, even though they have DNA, all they did was check it from time to time with the national data bases. I don't think they checked many locals at all over the years.
Can you tell us that, how many locals, ex locals have been tested over the years, to see if there was a match.

Quessie....This was not done by some serial killer, or someone from out of town passing through the neighborhood on that day!
Can you give a yes or no on that even. This was done by someone in your midst.
This is about as local as you can get at the time.

Until we receive some more facts on this case, i rather not speculate anymore!

I think it was a local but possibly not an immediate local. This is a busy interesection along two main thoroughfares. IIRC this gas station was the only gas station in the area so it is likely someone stopping for Gas could have noticed Kristy and crime of opportunity.

From reading the articles, I get the impression LE did interview and rule out quite a few people. I'm in DuPage and have lived here over 40 years.

I'd also like to add, I have given consideration to what Quessie has said. If I had to guess, and I am not wishing to speak for her, but I think this is a difficult step for herself given the situation. I am certain she does not wish to enmesh herself in this daily like it happened yesterday. And I am imagining it a difficult place to find the appropriate boundary... I don't think she wants to be barraged - like what happens in many current cases. I'm sure it will take some time for her to become better acquainted with WS and how things work here in the Cold Case forum. I think WS can be a bit of an overwhelming place - especially if one reads some of the extremely fast moving forums and threads. What is nice is the CC area here has quite a different group than those that follow the current hot cases. I am more than willing to give Quessie and anyone else who knows or knew the family time to find there place here. I don't mean to insinuate we should all handle this with kid gloves. What we do is speculate, discuss.. and hopefully discuss enough to find some kind of new information to bring forth to LE - whether it be some info on a familiar crime, or ?? who knows, maybe instill some fear in the perp to confess...

There are so many different possibilities, but what I would like and I think we do need is enough information to keep the discussion continuing. And I am confident that will come in time.



Peace-

Cubby

 

[Quessie]

someone followed her on her path back to her
Quessie....This was not done by some serial killer, or someone from out of town passing through the neighborhood on that day!

Can you give a yes or no on that even. This was done by someone in your midst.

guys, it's not like the CC unit has concrete evidence as to who the perp is, or how he knew Kristy and i am purposely not divulging that. all i am saying is that unless someone is NOT cleared as a suspect, they are not one.

the speculation on this case is the reason that i have chosen (after 25 years) to step forward and try to share the resources that i am free to share. i don't know who did it, so i can't say "It was done by someone 'in my midst'."

i also... this is a public forum. i don't know who this information is being read by, and if i say ANYthing, i want it to be strictly and purely factual information rather than conjecture and speculation.

i wasn't with her in the store that day, and i wasn't in the field after, therefore all of the "Someone was watching from the trees." and "Someone followed her in the store." hypotheses...we can't know. if we were to find out today that any such theories were, in fact, accurate (which i am not saying they are), that knowledge TODAY would not help find the killer. the environment has changed, the Jewel isn't there any more, the field is gone... no one can go retrace the steps; it's empirically impossible. no one can go to the store and ask who was working that day; the grocery store is gone.

what i beseech everyone to do is to continue to give this case every attention that it can, but to operate and proceed on what we DO KNOW rather than what MIGHT have happened.

if someone posts something that i know is completely false information, i will address that the best i can and reply with the proper details. if you have a question as to existing evidential information you want confirmed, that will be addressed.

i thank you, Cubby, for understanding that i am not going to be logging in every day and replying to everything. i do not want this to be a part of my every day life. i mean... if someone you loved - someone who was family died 25 years ago, would you want to relive their murder every day?

i want justice for Kristy, but not at the expense of myself or my current relationship. when/if Kristy's brother decides to come online and address certain topics himself, he will do that, and i will not speak for him or anyone else but myself.

this includes any LE, PD or ME officials. it is simply not my place, and if they wanted the details to be public, they would have taken efforts to make them such. i respect the individuals who are handling this case and they have my complete loyalty and confidentiality and trust. they care, and beyond about solving a case - the ones i have spoken with truly care about what happened to Kristy. they visit her grave every year, they follow every online thread about her... they have not forgotten, and they are following up on every lead and have followed up on every piece of evidence they have and will continue to do so. i will not give them cause to speculate as to whether i trust in their efforts, because i DO trust them.

for now, i will leave you with this:

thank you for your attention and your thoughts.
thank you for remembering and for continuing to help in the search for justice for Kristy.
if the person who did this is out there and reading, they will know that they aren't safe - that they will NEVER be...

 

[Cubby]

Encrypted and Quessie are both verified

 

[Cubby]

Just a thought. We know thus far there is no dna match to whomever is responsible for Kristy's murder. I can't help but wonder if LE was able to obtain any prints from the person responsible and if they have submitted them to IAFIS. (No, this is not something I would answer on the forum, but might inquire with the detectives currently working on the case. )

A little bit about IAFIS:

How big it is: IAFIS is the largest biometric database in the world, housing the fingerprints and criminal histories for more than 66 million subjects in the criminal master file, along with more than 25 million civil prints. Included in our criminal database are fingerprints from 73,000 known and suspected terrorists processed by the U.S. or by international law enforcement agencies who work with us.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/fingerprints_biometrics/iafis/iafis

66 million subjects is an enormous database. I'd imagine far larger than a national DNA database.......

IAFIS is also 'new' as of 1999... this postdates Kristy's murder so perhaps even running any latent prints today might help - even if 5 or 10 years ago there was no match. The computer programs analyzing the prints are far more sophisticated today.

just thinking outloud.

also, there are some interesting news links at the end of the link, including one 30 yr old cold cse solved by 'hit of the year' - havent' read it yet, but will be doing so shortly.

I hope that DPCS would continuosly run any prints that have from Kristy's murderer because the technology is improving daily.

 

[:+:MrTT:+:]

Just a thought. We know thus far there is no dna match to whomever is responsible for Kristy's murder. I can't help but wonder if LE was able to obtain any prints from the person responsible and if they have submitted them to IAFIS. (No, this is not something I would answer on the forum, but might inquire with the detectives currently working on the case. )

A little bit about IAFIS:

How big it is: IAFIS is the largest biometric database in the world, housing the fingerprints and criminal histories for more than 66 million subjects in the criminal master file, along with more than 25 million civil prints. Included in our criminal database are fingerprints from 73,000 known and suspected terrorists processed by the U.S. or by international law enforcement agencies who work with us.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/fingerprints_biometrics/iafis/iafis

66 million subjects is an enormous database. I'd imagine far larger than a national DNA database.......

IAFIS is also 'new' as of 1999... this postdates Kristy's murder so perhaps even running any latent prints today might help - even if 5 or 10 years ago there was no match. The computer programs analyzing the prints are far more sophisticated today.

just thinking outloud.

also, there are some interesting news links at the end of the link, including one 30 yr old cold cse solved by 'hit of the year' - havent' read it yet, but will be doing so shortly.

I hope that DPCS would continuosly run any prints that have from Kristy's murderer because the technology is improving daily.

I will check the articles that Quessie posted over the weekend, and see if anything was mentioned about prints.

It is wonderful to know, that they do have a DNA identity, even though it has not been matched so far. That is why one reason i am waiting to see if that DNA was match to another unsolved case.
Though i have a hunch, there has been no other match to this DNA.

Thanks for your links on the fingerprints.
I was unaware about that site!

I believe this case is solvable.
The new detectives, may-have to dig little deeper, and re-interview some people from the past. And perhaps over time, a LE official will post something here, to give us another piece of this puzzle.
Which will cut down on speculation, with any validation of information supplied here on this forum.

And Quessie, if you read this.
I want you to know, I am sorry if my postings may-had appeared to be pushy with you. That was not my intention.
Please take all the time you need, and post when you want.
And post what you will.
​

 

[Cubby]

Bumping for Kristina. I wish DuPage was at least willing to make a public announcement with regards to a possible MO on the perp. With so few facts on this case it is difficult to research. We know LE has DNA, and Kristy's killer was bold enough to do this in broad daylight while a family gathering was occuring within 100' or so on the other side of a fence. Imo, it is highly unlikely Kristy was his first victim.

Praying answers are found for Kristy's case in 2011.

 

[Quessie]

i honestly think that if DuPage had any leads as far as an MO or DNA findings that (A) Kristy's family would have been notified of that and (B) if there was an MO, an announcement would have been made.

DCPD reads this site. they follow every lead. i think that the more that people insinuate that they are hiding something, or that they botched the investigation, the less likely they are to share ANYthing. if someone was accusing you left and right about something, would you want to talk to them at all?

everyone is free to say and think whatever they want, but IMHO the goal here is to keep Kristy's story alive and try to help solve the case. no amount of bashing and pointing fingers is going to accomplish anything.

 

[Cubby]

Quessie, I think you misunderstood. WS is both victim friendly and LE friendly. By my suggesting 'I wish', it was only for information that would help those like myself who volunteer and have spent thousands of hours researching cases, looking for clues or similiarities. Never would I suggest, nor have I suggested DuPage has botched Kristy's case or any of the other cold cases or unidentified persons within the county.

We have thousands of cases here and LE putting out media alerts, even so much as a small media announcement with clues that would not impede an investigation help keep a case alive.

You have done a fantastic job providing the blog with the MSM (main stream media) which is not available online.

I'm sure you are accustomed to bloggers or unwelcomed negative attention to Kristy's case. I can assure you, Websleuths is not like that... We are a moderated forum which make us different from the rest out there. The members here care and care deeply.

However, all we have to work with is what is available to the public via MSM, FOIA or what WS considers credible online sources (yes sadly, we have a few unapproved sources we have unfortunately had to block). ,

We know someone did this during broad daylight. By my asking about an MO it could be something as simple as information that Kristy's case similiar to X other cases which may or may not be in IL, may or may not be solved and may not have DNA in a database. It was in no means meant to bash. DuPage, like many jurisdicrtions simply does not have the man hours to invest the thousands of hours our members do when researching cases.

I do hope we can continue to keep Kristy's case alive. I'm keeping my ear to the ground with any similiarities to Kristy's case I might run across while researching other cases and hope other WS'rs are as well.

Respectfully - and praying 2011 is the year Kristy's case is solved,

Cubby

 

[Cubby]

I wonder if DuPage utilies VICAP software.
http://foia.fbi.gov/vicappia.htm

Sounds like this might be useful to DuPage to assist in searching for cases similiar to Kristy's. If DuPage is not already utilizing this software.


hth

 

[Quessie]

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20110718/news/707189798/

There is a news conference scheduled for Thursday July 21st.
I have posted a link to the press release article.

At this point, what is available in the article is the only information that I have.
When more information is available, I will update you.

 

[:+:MrTT:+:]

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20110718/news/707189798/

There is a news conference scheduled for Thursday July 21st.
I have posted a link to the press release article.

At this point, what is available in the article is the only information that I have.
When more information is available, I will update you.

for letting us know about the above conference.
I for one will be looking forward to seeing and or hearing what they have to say on Thursday.
And will read here again Thursday night.
​

 

[Cubby]

Thank you Quessie for notifying us. I just did a news search for Kristy's case a few days ago as the 26th anniversary approaches.

raying: LE is much closer to solving Kristina's case than we know.

As always Kristy's family is in our prayers.

 

[Quessie]

The News Conference for Kristy Wesselman's case is scheduled for tomorrow (Thursday July 21st) at 2:00 PM.

It is unknown whether this will be a live or prerecorded telecast, but keep an eye on the local news.

 

[Cubby]

Thank you Quessie. I am anxiously awaiting the news conference.

Just wondering outloud. When it was mentioned there are new developments in Kristina's case, I can't help but wonder about witness statements. By that I don't mean there was an actual witness to the event itself, but rather witnesses out there who were told of the events which took place by the person responsible. Similiarly to how the Palatine Browns chicken murders were solved many many years later - with someone coming forward based on what they were told.

If persons exist who were told about the events which occured to Kristina that day, I pray they come forward. This family has waited far too long for justice.

 

[Cubby]

In addition to local news, the dupage county sheriff site may have a transcription of the presser as well. I will check both local news and the DPC site.

 

[Cubby]

Kristina Wesselman (July 21, 2011)



The slaying of Kristina Wesselman has not been solved, but DuPage County law enforcement officials say it has not been for lack of trying. On Thursday afternoon, they are scheduled to hold a news conference to unveil "new developments" in the case. Officials say there are no major breaks, but they are hoping to generate public interest in the crime and uncover new clues.

<snip>

Several possible suspects have been identified over the years, but no evidentiary links have been made, even as DNA testing has improved.

Full article at link:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-dupage-cold-case-0721-20110721,0,5999257.story

 

[Cubby]

Paul Darrah, spokesman for the DuPage County State&#8217;s Attorney&#8217;s Office, said no one has been charged with the murder. He said he did not know what information the Sheriff&#8217;s Office will release.

&#8220;Whatever they plan on talking about, our office has not had anything to do with it,&#8221; Darrah said.

full article at link:

http://glenellyn.patch.com/articles/sheriff-to-release-new-information-on-1985-murder

 

[Cubby]

Still looking for info on the press release.

I did find an article (dated today) with information from the detective who had found Kristy. He left the DPCS in December of 1985 for Florida and finished his LE career in FL.

In the article it mentions this detective is writing a book dedicated to Kristy. That all they (being LE) had at the time was a little dna from semen. He feels the perp is a young man who did not become a habitual offender.

More at link

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20110721/news/707219873/

 

[Cubby]

Interestingly the above article mentions LE released details of a pearl ring that the perp may have been taken off Kristy's hand - but the article doesn't include the details about the ring. :waitasec: