New Lead In Kidnapped College Student's Killing Has SoCal Ties: Police

Authorities on Sunday announced a new lead on the 34th anniversary of the disappearance of Tammy Zywicki, who was kidnapped and killed, her body abandoned, while traveling from the Chicago suburbs to college in Iowa.

Agents are looking for information about Theresa “Teri” Belenske — maiden name Theresa Vega — a person of interest who was known to hitchhike and who may have traveled with an unknown truck driver seen near Zywicki’s car, who is suspected in the case, according to police. Belenske had connections in several Southern California cities, police said.

Zywicki was last seen with her 1985 White Pontiac T1000 between 3:10 p.m. and 4 p.m. Aug. 23, 1992, on Interstate 80 at mile marker 83 in LaSalle County, Illinois, police said.

A native of Marlton, New Jersey, she had dropped her brother off at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and was making the trek to Grinnell College, UPI reported in 1992.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Who Killed Tammy Zywicki? 25 Years Later, Still No Answers In Student's Murder

State police found her car the same day she was last seen and marked it as abandoned, towing it on Aug. 24, 1992, on which date her mother contacted the agency to report that her daughter had not arrived at college, authorities said. Zywicki’s body was found Sept. 1, 1992, along Interstate 44 in rural Lawrence County, Missouri, between Joplin and Springfield, according to police, who said she had been stabbed to death.

The 21-year-old had reportedly been sexually assaulted and stabbed seven times in a circular pattern near her heart. She'd also been stabbed in the right arm and had duct tape over her mouth, the Des Moines Register has previously reported.

A New Lead

A semitrailer was reported near Zywicki's vehicle, driven by a man aged 35-40, who was over 6 feet tall and had dark, bushy hair, police said. Belenske, who died in 2014, may have been traveling with the man before Zywicki’s death, according to police, who noted Belenske would have been 32 at the time Zywicki died and who released an AI-generated rendering of what Belenske may have looked like in 1992.

Agents are looking for information about Belenske from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s. She had ties to several California cities, including Oceanside, Vista, Pomona, San Bernardino and Fontana, police said.

The FBI is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the identification of those responsible for the crime.

Anyone with information about Zywicki’s killing, or about Belenske, can leave a tip at isptips.illinois.gov or call 1-800-225-5324, according to police, who noted callers may remain anonymous.

Personal property of Zywicki’s known to be missing includes a Canon 35-millimeter camera and a Lorus brand musical wristwatch, which played the tune “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head,” police said.​ Also taken was a red and white soccer patch monogrammed with “St. Giles Soccer Club, Greenville, SC,” according to police. ​

Ex-State Police investigator Marty McCarthy’s prime suspect, trucker Lonnie Bierbrodt, reportedly gave his wife a musical watch similar to the one Tammy owned, the Daily Herald reported in 2012. Bierbrodt, who died in 2002, was questioned but never charged, and the watch was never found.