IL IL - Rachel Mellon Skemp, 13, Bolingbrook, 31 Jan 1996

[theshadow45]

Rachel has been missing for 27 years today.

 

[Pennysmom1]

article from Jan 28, 2021

25 years later, questions linger over Bolingbrook girl’s disappearance

BOLINGBROOK, Ill. — Twenty-five years after 13-year-old Rachel Mellon vanished from her Bolingbrook home, clouds of suspicion over the case have never lifted. The investigation, according to local …

wgntv.com

 

[theshadow45]

Bumping, today is Rachel’s birthday.

 

[theshadow45]

Rachel has been missing for 28 years today.

 

[Diavola]

This is kind of a nitpick, but isn't Rachel biracial? All sites list her as Asian only.

 

[Noirdame79]

This is kind of a nitpick, but isn't Rachel biracial? All sites list her as Asian only.

Yes, her father is Caucasian and her mother is Asian.

 

[theshadow45]

Today is Rachel’s birthday.

 

[Caring1]

5 Unidentified Person Exclusions

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Today I learned about this case because a skull has been found in Bolingbrook and mentioned on other threads. (The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs))

Of course there are other people it could be, and I don't know whether Rachel could have realistically been in a nearby wooded area undiscovered since 1996?

She sure suffered a lot in her short life, though, and she deserves justice.

 

[theshadow45]

Rachel has been missing for 29 years today.

 

[spartanx]

I wonder if she was pregnant and that was the problem she was referring to... Maybe she told him and said she'd tell others, and Vince killed her... if she mentioned anything to Vince about living with her father... That would alienate Rachel from him, and she probably would have told her father about Vince...
Everyone failed you, and the mother continues to fail her even when her daughter is no longer physically here... How could you go on with a man who, according to your daughter's diary, kissed her, groped her, and even gave her an obscene book? It's a shame the father lived in another state and allowed another man to raise his daughter... Even he admits that if he had taken responsibility as a father, this situation probably wouldn't have happened... Obviously, she was a very strong and brave girl to maintain such a happy attitude while living with a stupid mother and a pedophile stepfather...
Little Rachel, you look a lot like my oldest daughter, even now she's the same age as you... If I were involved in a situation like this, even though I'm not violent, I would take justice into my own hands... I would have taken you with me and you would be protected forever... Everyone failed you, no one was there for you...
Whatever happens,
Rest in peace, little Rachel

 

[t.nichevo]

Here from the Voices for Justice podcast.

Clearly Vince Mellon harmed Rachel. As it was trash day, he likely put her in the trash with her bedding and she may never be found.

One thing I can say is that the police really dropped the ball on this one. Yes, Rachel had ran away before but the converging circumstances and evidence surely pointed to something terrible happening while the stepfather was home alone with her. (1) He was covered in scratches (2) He was walking the dog in minus 20 weather? (3) She did not take any clothing suitable for the weather with her (4) The stepfather was so stupid that he left the diary, steak knife, book about fathers molesting their daughers in her room to be found by police!

Any competent investigation would have found those items the day she went missing. This should have been the thought process at a minimum

"You think shes run away? Maybe her diary will tell us where she might have gone to... Wait whats this? A whole entry about how her stepfather abused her? Let's get a warrant and go over the whole house with a fine tooth comb"

 

[Queen of the Winter Night]

This is one of the cases I most wish would get solved. So many people are still here missing her, worried about her, and want closure about where she is. With so many cold cases in recent years being solved, one can hope....

 

[theshadow45]

Bumping, today is Rachel’s birthday.

 

[Queen of the Winter Night]

I am trying to do a deep dive on this case as much as possible.

• Two different sources saying the last person OUTSIDE OF IMMEDIATELY FAMILY to have seen/heard of Rachel alive is 10:45am that morning. A 4-minute call to her grandparents, which was out of the ordinary. This confirms at least that she was alive up to that point and the period of her going missing is ~10:49am-3:15pm. 3:15pm is when a half-sibling came home from school and noticed her missing but did not say anything to their parents (?).
• At first they thought she might be a runaway. Does that mean they didn't IMMEDIATELY check her home? IMMEDIATELY take things from her room and the house? Did they IMMEDIATELY check vehicles? The yard? I am guessing they simply left people go about their lives in the house that was possibly a crime scene.
• I have seen references to searches by "air, land, and sea." Do we know specifically? Which ponds, lakes, forest preserves? Etc.?
• I also notice Rachel's website that her father ran is down.....

 

[Queen of the Winter Night]

• There are sources that say the half-sibling noticed Rachel was missing at 3:15pm when she got home from school, but they differ on whether or not she told her parents at that time or waited until about 5pm when her mom also noticed Rachel was missing. I will need to see what is the earliest information on that and where/when/why they differed. I wonder which is the correct one.
• I was also wondering why Vince was home on a Wednesday but I found an article mentioning that he was unemployed at the time.
• An early article notes that the case did not generate a single lead until after two months, which LE noted was unusual. (to me this gives credence to something happening in the house and not that she was abducted like her mom and stepdad still say!)

 

[Queen of the Winter Night]

ANOTHER THOUGHT after reading someone else's comment on another forum - people were talking about the possibility that VM could have dumped the body in the trash because it was trash day in the neighborhood. I wonder if there is any way to confirm if it was trash day. If so, that would open up the probability of this theory.