Ashley Tucker Murder: Joliet Police Proud Of Detective Work

JOLIET, IL - In mid-October, 25-year-old Ashley Tucker vanished late on a Saturday night, never to be seen alive again. Within days, Joliet's Police Department was notified of the young Joliet woman's missing person's case. Detectives went to work and cracked the tragic case in quick fashion. A convicted sexual predator, Peter Zabala, 42, of Joliet has been arrested on first-degree murder charges.

The complicated case is considered by many at the Joliet Police Department to be the agency's finest homicide investigation so far in 2018.

"This case literally took us all over Joliet," Sgt. Darrell Gavin told Joliet Patch during a recent interview at the Joliet Police Station. "It started out from Day One as a mystery."

Tucker disappeared around 11 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 13 after last being seen in the Parkwood-Ridgewood area where she lived. Her car was found nearby. A couple days later, family members informed Patch that "her roommate called and told us that her car was there, and she wasn't home. They found the jacket in the backyard with blood on it and specks all over the area where the jacket was found. It was the jacket she was wearing during the party."

Through interviews with Tucker's roommate and other people, Joliet Police investigators later learned that Zabala was the last person to be around her before she went missing.

"You always want to talk to all the people who last saw her," Gavin told Joliet Patch. "It was determined that he was the last person to see her. His name kind of came up during witness statements and from other people at the earlier party before she disappeared."

Tucker and Zabala, according to Gavin, "they knew each other" and "were previous acquaintances."

As for Zabala, Joliet Police investigators suspected he had gone into hiding and was intentionally trying to duck the police to avoid being interviewed.

Sunday, October 21

On the eighth day since Tucker vanished, the Joliet Police Department made a strategic decision. They reached out to the Joliet Patch and other area news outlets, around lunchtime on a Sunday. The administration of Chief Al Roechner asked for assistance in circulating information to help the police find Zabala. "Zabala is a person of interest in the disappearance of Ashley Tucker," Joliet Police announced.

By 9:15 p.m., that night, about eight hours later, Joliet Police arrested Zabala in the 1000 block of North Hickory Street. Besides the arrest warrant for failing to register as a sex offender, Zabala was charged with two counts of resisting arrest and one count of unlawful restraint. Police say he was detaining a woman at the residence at the time of his arrest.

Joliet Police achieved one of their key objectives: getting their prime suspect off the street.

Given Zabala was classified as a sexual predator, police were able to convince Judge David Carlson to detain Zabala in the county jail for the time being without bail, while their homicide investigation remained active and underway.

Still, time was of the essence. It was only a matter of time before Zabala and his lawyer would argue for a more reasonable bail, given the absence of any formal murder charges against him.

October 26

Four days after Zabala's arrest, Joliet Police showed up at a property in the 3500 block of South State Street in Lockport Township. The lot is several blocks up the road from the Old Joliet Prison.

This is where Joliet's detectives came armed with a search warrant trying to find Tucker. Eventually, the police made a gruesome discovery. They found suspected human remains at the bottom of a burn barrel kept on the private property.

During the previous days, Gavin said, Joliet homicide investigators "determined the routes and places he had been" referring to Zabala.

That investigative legwork led the Joliet Police to look for Tucker's body on the property that belonged to someone in Zabala's family, Gavin said.

Beforehand, Gavin told Patch, investigators were not one-hundred percent positive Tucker's remains were concealed on the State Street property.

"When we got to the property with the search warrant, that's when the barrel was discovered," he explained. "We had human remains, but we were not sure they were her remains until we got the positive identification and were able to determine it was hers."

Gavin said that to the best of his knowledge, all the crucial evidence collected from the property was found outside, rather than in the home.

Some people in Zabala's family helped the Joliet Police, but others did not, Gavin said.

"A number were extremely helpful in providing information. There were other family members that just would not (want) to talk."

October 27

The Will County Coroner's Office of Patrick O'Neil issued a press bulletin announcing the dreaded news that came as no surprise. The apparent human remains located in Lockport Township were Tucker. Police suspect her killer tried to incinerate her body after her homicide.

"There were burn marks on her body," Gavin told Patch.

He said that investigators and Will County prosecutors are still awaiting forensic testing on a number of items in the case including evidence taken from the automobile used by Zabala.

Joliet Police do not believe Tucker was killed by a gunshot nor was there any indication she was stabbed to death with a knife, Gavin said.

"There was nothing visible of a shooting or that she had been stabbed," he added.

Gavin said the Joliet Police Department spent two to three days scouring the property north of Joliet where the remains were found. Gavin said the police found no other physical evidence at that location to tie Zabala to any additional missing women or dead bodies.

"We were very careful and meticulous in that search of that residence and the land around it," Gavin said.

November 2

The formal filing of first-degree murder charges came against Zabala two days after Halloween. Joliet Police continue to work on the homicide, trying to tie up loose ends.

During the recent interview, Joliet Patch asked Sgt. Gavin if police have nailed down the motive for Zabala allegedly killing her.

"That motive is a question," Gavin said. "He is a sexual predator. His past criminal history involves violence. He's a violent individual."

5 Detectives Praised

Gavin said three detectives were instrumental in building the murder charges against Zabala and tracking down leads that led to the recovery of Tucker's body. They are: Tizoc Landeros, the lead case investigator, as well as Jeff German and Don McKinney.

"They worked it almost around the clock to the close of the investigation," Gavin said. "It was amazing to see their work ethic and determination to make sure that Ashley's family was able to get some type of closure on this."

Gavin said, "We work homicides as a team. German is our computer forensics guru. Tizoc was lead (and conducted) multiple interviews. Don put himself wherever Tizoc and German needed help.

"No matter how small, he was always there to volunteer."

All told, about 15 detectives worked at various stages on the Tucker homicide case.

Gavin also singled out Detectives Brad McKeon and Carlos Matlock for figuring out where Zabala was hiding, at the house on Hickory Street. Arresting Zabala at that stage of the case, before Tucker's body was found, was huge for the police, Gavin said.

"You want to try to get him into an enclosed environment where he can't harm anybody else," Gavin said of Zabala, who had yet to be charged with Tucker's death. "The longer a suspect stays out there, the more opportunity for that person to run or destroy evidence.

"And you want to prevent both of those things from occurring."

Gavin said the tips from the community were valuable.

"A lot of people gave us quality tips along the way," he said. "But ultimately it was the experience of the investigators that came into play."

RELATED: Sex Offender Jailed In Ashley Tucker Case

Mugshot of Peter Zabala via Joliet Police