Post by Scumhunter on Apr 6, 2014 11:31:44 GMT -5
Racine County Sheriff's officials think they finally have solved the mystery of who killed a 14-year-old Illinois girl and dumped her body in a marsh in the town of Burlington in 1997.
Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling told the Racine Journal Times in an email Saturday night that his deputies had arrested a 36-year-old Illinois man in the brutal murder 17 years ago of the runaway teenager, Amber Gail Creek of Palatine, Ill.
The sheriff's office has scheduled a news conference for 1 p.m. Monday in Racine to reveal the suspect's identity and details of the arrest.
Two men looking for hunting sites found Amber's body in a marsh at the Karcher Wildlife Refuge on Feb. 9, 1997. According to Journal Sentinel archives, the perpetrator had posed her body with an upraised hand and the greeting "HI" written on the back of her hand. She was found with a $5 price tag on her arm from a bookstore in the Schaumburg, Ill., area. Investigators determined Amber had been sexually assaulted and suffocated with a black plastic bag.
Amber was a ward of the state of Illinois when she disappeared. Her body was found three weeks later, but investigators spent more than a year and a half examining more than 1,300 missing person's files before they identified her, according to Journal Sentinel archives. Amber's case also was profiled on "America's Most Wanted."
Schmaling told the Journal Times he thinks he has "solid, clear and overwhelming evidence" to prove the man who has been arrested is responsible.
"My investigators and I sifted through thousands of reports and spent thousands of hours over the years trying to solve this senseless murder of a child. Today was by far the best moment for my investigative team as we informed Amber's dad that we caught her killer," Schmaling wrote in his email. "It was an emotional exchange for everyone in the room."
Amber's family asked not to be contacted by media.
The "America's Most Wanted" episode featuring Amber Creek aired Dec. 12, 1998, and can be found on the show's website.
www.jsonline.com/news/crime/arrest-made-17-years-after-amber-gail-creek-found-dead-in-racine-county-b99241720z1-254098771.html#ixzz2y7mg6FrJ
Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling told the Racine Journal Times in an email Saturday night that his deputies had arrested a 36-year-old Illinois man in the brutal murder 17 years ago of the runaway teenager, Amber Gail Creek of Palatine, Ill.
The sheriff's office has scheduled a news conference for 1 p.m. Monday in Racine to reveal the suspect's identity and details of the arrest.
Two men looking for hunting sites found Amber's body in a marsh at the Karcher Wildlife Refuge on Feb. 9, 1997. According to Journal Sentinel archives, the perpetrator had posed her body with an upraised hand and the greeting "HI" written on the back of her hand. She was found with a $5 price tag on her arm from a bookstore in the Schaumburg, Ill., area. Investigators determined Amber had been sexually assaulted and suffocated with a black plastic bag.
Amber was a ward of the state of Illinois when she disappeared. Her body was found three weeks later, but investigators spent more than a year and a half examining more than 1,300 missing person's files before they identified her, according to Journal Sentinel archives. Amber's case also was profiled on "America's Most Wanted."
Schmaling told the Journal Times he thinks he has "solid, clear and overwhelming evidence" to prove the man who has been arrested is responsible.
"My investigators and I sifted through thousands of reports and spent thousands of hours over the years trying to solve this senseless murder of a child. Today was by far the best moment for my investigative team as we informed Amber's dad that we caught her killer," Schmaling wrote in his email. "It was an emotional exchange for everyone in the room."
Amber's family asked not to be contacted by media.
The "America's Most Wanted" episode featuring Amber Creek aired Dec. 12, 1998, and can be found on the show's website.
www.jsonline.com/news/crime/arrest-made-17-years-after-amber-gail-creek-found-dead-in-racine-county-b99241720z1-254098771.html#ixzz2y7mg6FrJ
