Missing Deputy's Sister Tells of Struggle to Solve Mystery

One decade passed and then another, and the sister of a missing Will County deputy still had faith that law enforcement would solve the mystery.

All of that changed when a former police officer reached out with information on the case of Deputy Robin Abrams, who vanished in October 1990.

“For 22 years, there was no movement, as far as we were concerned. We believed the police were working on it,” said Abrams’ sister Jody Walsh of Crestwood.

In April 2012, Walsh took matters into her own hands.

“Prior to that we trusted the powers-that-be on the force,” she said, recalling how she was told about hopes “for a deathbed confession,” and assured detectives were “investigating every lead.”

Walsh is skeptical of that now and has worked tirelessly to piece together the mystery of her sister’s disappearance. While she believes Abrams was murdered, Walsh said she will not rest until she finds her body, and she finds justice.

“I’m just doing this to get her home,” Walsh said. “I want justice and I want the truth to come out of what these people did to her.”

Abrams was 28 when she mysteriously vanished. Prior to her disappearance, Abrams was having an affair with Joliet businessman Tony Marquez, who also served as a Will County auxiliary cop, Walsh said. The couple’s tumultuous relationship was punctuated by the two exchanging allegations of harassment. Walsh accused Marquez of stalking her sister.

In the midst of her turmoil with Marquez, the sheriff’s department fired Abrams. According to the website Missing Persons of America, Abrams was let go two weeks before her probationary period was to end. But she didn’t take it lying down.

“On Dec. 13, 1989, Robin filed a federal lawsuit against Marquez and seven other members of the sheriff’s department alleging wrongful termination and sexual harassment,” the site said. Abrams disappeared while the suit was still pending.

Charles B. Pelkie, the spokesman for the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office, said the Abrams investigation remains active.

“It’s a case that’s still under review,” Pelkie said. “The state’s attorney said the Robin Abrams case and a number of other cases will be looked at.”

Patch visited Marquez at his Elwood home in September 2012. He refused to discuss Abrams.

“Sorry sorry sorry,” Marquez said. “Zero.”

After nearly three years of devoting herself to her sister’s case, Walsh said she is sure she will find the truth.

“I know I’m bringing her home,” she said. “I never doubted it.”

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