IL-Rachel Mellon Skemp (13) Missing Since 1996

[Juliana]

I ran across a reference to this missing child and it is really pulling at my heartstrings. What happened to this beautiful 13 year old girl who was obviously loved by so many people, and vanished into thin area (if her stepfather's story is to be believed).

Rachel Mellon Skemp

http://www.angelfire.com/mi3/mpccn/mellon.html

imo

[emma l]

Rachel mellon who has been missing almost 9 years had a birthday October 13th- but I was ill and forgot to bump her.

Please go to Rachels website and think about this child for a moment. She is loved and missed.

www.rachelfind.com

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RACHEL :HappyBday :HappyBday :HappyBday :HappyBday

[emma l]

Bumping for Rachel....................... :)

[mysteriew]

Investigators may have ruled out a link between human bones found on Chicago's South Side and two high-profile missing children cases.

Also, teeth recovered with the remains do not match the dental records of Rachel Mellon, another victim of an unsolved investigation.

DNA tests still need to be completed for further information.
http://www.nbc5.com/news/4455548/detail.html

[Mr. E]

I don't understand the following:
Rachel ran away and stayed at a friend's home over a year before her 1996 disappearance. She voluntarily returned home shortly after her departure.
Does that mean she ran away, returned home, but lived with friends for a year? Why? Did it have anything to do with this:
Vince has been considered a possible suspect in her case for several years. He has a long record for domestic violence
Stepdad sounds suspicious to me.

[Bobbisangel]

I don't understand the following:

Does that mean she ran away, returned home, but lived with friends for a year? Why? Did it have anything to do with this:

Stepdad sounds suspicious to me.



The wording of that article is confusing but I think that they mean that a year before she disappeared in 1996 she ran away and stayed with a friend but came back home shortly after she ran away. That is what I got after reading it several times.

I notice that the police don't think that the stepdad checked on Rachel after he came back from walking the dog. He says he DID check on her though BUT her disappearance wasn't phoned in until 5:00 and he walked the dog in the afternoon???? If he checked on Rachel and noticed that she wasn't in her bed or in the house...that she was missing why didn't he call LE then? Why wait until the mom and other family members arrived home at 5:00 and they noticed that she was gone...then make the call???

The stepdad said that Rachel had on sweatpants...shirt...slippers when she took a nap in the afternoon and that she was home sick from school. He also says that she didn't take a coat, shoes, socks when/if she left and it was
freezing outside. I can't imagine anyone leaving home without taking a coat and shoes/socks when it is freezing outside. If Rachel decided to split when the stepdad took the dog for a walk you would think she would have grabbed her heavy coat and warm shoes/socks. If she had just been waiting for him to leave she would have been up the second he got down the street and probably would have had her stuff ready to go before hand. Someone must have taken Rachel from the house without her permission. She's been gone way to long to have left on her own and never look back...I would think anyway unless she would have been running from someone that might have been abusing her and she felt that she could never go back. Probably not though....where would she go? I hope this case gets solved someday. Rachel deserves justice and her probable killer deserves to be in prison no matter who he is.

[PonderingThings]

http://www.doenetwork.us/cases/1592dfil.html (http://www.doenetwork.us/cases/1592dfil.html)
The Doe Network page (above link) has photos of Rachel

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/city/4_1_1_JO29_MELLON_S3.htm

Timeline of the disappearance of Rachel Mellon.

[PonderingThings]

http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/local_story_028215808.html

10 years later family has a memorial service for Rachel Mellon to say goodbye.

Great photos (and a video) of Rachel at link.

[mjak]

http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/local_story_028215808.html

10 years later family has a memorial service for Rachel Mellon to say goodbye.

Great photos (and a video) of Rachel at link.

This memorial service leaves me with a very bad feeling. I am not a parent but I can not imagine I would ever have a memorial service for a child of mine if there was any chance this child was alive. I would have vigils, fundraisers and numerous other gatherings but not "a memorial to say goodbye". I could never ever say goodbye without a body or difinitive dna evidence. I understand the need for a family to go on and desire an ending to this nightmare . I just don't see how a parent can say goodbye under these cirucmstances. I should not pass judgment on these parents. However, with the suspicion sourrounding the father I feel my feelings about this memorial have merit.

mjak

[PonderingThings]

mjak I had the same "impression" as you.... perhaps its not really a "goodbye" even though that's how the article was worded, as much as it is a "till we find you"?

[mjak]

mjak I had the same "impression" as you.... perhaps its not really a "goodbye" even though that's how the article was worded, as much as it is a "till we find you"?
The titel of the article is "Family Says Goodbye To Girl Who Disappeared".
The photos look like the set up for a memorial service for someone who has died.
It would appear the parents intentions were to say good bye.

mjak

[mistagee]

Its so obvious that the stepfather killed her, I cant believe this case hasnt been solved!!!!

[meggilyweggily]

I should not pass judgment on these parents. However, with the suspicion sourrounding the father I feel my feelings about this memorial have merit. There's no suspicion of Rachel's father -- he was in Texas when Rachel disappeared. It's her STEPfather who's considered a possible suspect.

[mjak]

There's no suspicion of Rachel's father -- he was in Texas when Rachel disappeared. It's her STEPfather who's considered a possible suspect.

Thank you for pointing this out to me. Someone else also pointed it
out to me also. I did have it confused in my head. That does make it less
uncomfortable for me.

mjak

[gidget641]

Hoping to bring Rachel home
Investigator offers reward in missing teen case
By Christy Gutowski
Daily Herald Legal Affairs Writer

Posted Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Rachel Marie Mellon vanished more than 10 years ago.
Although the 13-year-old Bolingbrook girl’s body was never found, police are all but certain the seventh-grader was murdered Jan. 31, 1996, after she stayed home from school with a sore throat.
A private detective with an interest in the case is hoping a $30,000 reward will generate new leads to finally bring Rachel home and nab her killer.
James J. Miller, who owns a Chicago-based agency, said he’s long followed Rachel’s disappearance and wanted to help. He lives in Woodridge.
“We have an indication that now is the perfect time to see if someone will come forward with information,” he said.

Police still cling to their long-held theory that Rachel’s stepfather knows something, but despite numerous interviews, lie detector tests, saliva and DNA samples, phone taps and the convening of a Will County grand jury, he has never been charged with any wrongdoing.

The stepfather, Vincent Mellon, now 39, maintains his innocence. In unrelated cases, though, Mellon faces jail time when he’s re-sentenced Aug. 28 for two misdemeanor domestic battery charges in Will County. He also faces a Sept. 12 trial for a DUI.

Mellon was the last person to see Rachel alive. He told police the two spent the morning playing video games. As Rachel napped, Mellon said, he ventured into near-20-below zero temperatures to walk their dog, Duke. The stepfather said he returned 30 minutes later.

The family didn’t notice that Rachel was missing until that evening. Police found no signs of forced entry. Only a blue blanket and two pillows were missing. Rachel’s coat, shoes and her purse weren’t taken

more at link Daily herald (http://www.dailyherald.com/news/dupagestory.asp?id=219700&cc=d&tc=&t=)

[bykerladi]

Is her mother still married to the stepfather?

[gidget641]

I am not sure if they are still married or not. I was able to find that in 2003 they were still together. But nothing after that. I will keep looking.

[Bobbisangel]

I am not sure if they are still married or not. I was able to find that in 2003 they were still together. But nothing after that. I will keep looking.




In the article I just read it doesn't sound like they are together. I don't have a doubt in my mind that he murdered that little girl. The domestic abuse was him hitting or abusing one of the children in the family and then he was jailed again later on for doing it again. That shows me that he was abusive to the children in the family. He is now serving 200 days in jail for violating his probation. He was not supposed to be around one of the children and it sounds like he went around the child anyway. He was also supposed to complete alcohol treatment and he didn't and he was supposed to complete some classes for domestic abuse and he didn't. His attorney tried to get the judge to give him more time to get his treatment and classes done but the judge said he had had plenty of time to complete his court ordered treatment and classes and he didn't so off to jail he goes.

This guy sounds like a real loser. The police believe he murdered Rachel but they just can't get the evidence to prove it. When Rachel disappeared there was only a blanket and pillow that were missing. He shoes, socks, coat and purse were left behind. I can understand why a blanket would be missing but why a pillow? He did it and I hope and pray that LE can in some way prove it. They have even had a grand jury but the guy wasn't endited.

Just a thought...if he beat Rachel to death on the davenport or her bed and she was laying on the blanket and pillow maybe that is why they are missing. She might have bled on the blanket and pillow.

[OceanEyes]

bump...

[emma l]

I think about Rachel all the time..

[meggilyweggily]

When Rachel disappeared there was only a blanket and pillow that were missing. He shoes, socks, coat and purse were left behind. I can understand why a blanket would be missing but why a pillow?

Perhaps she was suffocated with the pillow? If so she might have spat on it or something.

[emma l]

Perhaps she was suffocated with the pillow? If so she might have spat on it or something.

I agree. I suspect the pillow was got rid of to hide any kind of DNA evidence. Spit, even blood.

[ohwell1971]

http://www.rachelfind.com/Rachel1.htm

[mysteriew]

Her name may not be as well known as Lisa Stebic or Stacy Peterson, but the similarly unexplained disappearance of a young Bolingbrook girl more than 12 years ago remains a haunting mystery.

Rachel Marie Mellon was 13 when she vanished Jan. 31, 1996. That bitter-cold morning, the bubbly seventh-grader stayed home from school sick with a flu bug, resting in a pink sweat shirt, yellow sweat pants and slippers

snip...State lawmakers sent to the governor's desk Friday legislation that may affect the possible prosecution of murder suspects in cases such as that of Rachel, Stebic and Peterson in which authorities say they strongly suspect foul play but are limited by a lack of physical evidence without a body.
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=226896

[emma l]

Her name may not be as well known as Lisa Stebic or Stacy Peterson, but the similarly unexplained disappearance of a young Bolingbrook girl more than 12 years ago remains a haunting mystery.

Rachel Marie Mellon was 13 when she vanished Jan. 31, 1996. That bitter-cold morning, the bubbly seventh-grader stayed home from school sick with a flu bug, resting in a pink sweat shirt, yellow sweat pants and slippers

snip...State lawmakers sent to the governor's desk Friday legislation that may affect the possible prosecution of murder suspects in cases such as that of Rachel, Stebic and Peterson in which authorities say they strongly suspect foul play but are limited by a lack of physical evidence without a body.
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=226896


The diary entry where Rachel desribes how her step father molested her is something I've never read before.

Plus it would seem her mother is still with the stepfather. They are still married and in the quote he refers to "us". Very surprising that the mother would stay with him. Shocking considering the diary entry alone.
Poor Rachel.

[meggilyweggily]

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/mellon_rachel.html

[Peki51]

In Honor of Rachel Mellon

Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Wipfler Park
600 Block of Melissa
Bolingbrook, IL
5:30PM




Advocates Are Traveling Cross-Country in the 5th Annual “On the Road to Remember” Tour

Wilmington, NC – For the fifth year, volunteers from the North Carolina-based CUE Center for Missing Persons will set out on another cross country tour to raise awareness of missing children and adults. The team is scheduled to make numerous appearances throughout Illinois in August; distributing a trail of DVD’s, press kits and valuable information concerning 110 missing persons and 6 unsolved homicide cases. Many Illinois cases are included in this year’s tour and will be highlighted at the groups preplanned rally stops that will include participation from law enforcement agencies, advocates - organizations, families of the missing and local and state officials.

“After so many years, missing persons and homicide cases fade from the public’s radar, but for the families and friends left behind, the nightmare continues — every minute of every day,” said CUE Founder, Monica Caison, who is leading the caravan of volunteers”. “We make this trip each year to assure no case fades from memory and to support the families who remain searching for a resolution. They need our help and the community’s help to bring forth information.”

The 2008 tour, On the Road to Remember will depart from Wilmington, NC on August 21st, and will end more than 5, 299 miles later returning the volunteers to their home state North Carolina, on September 2nd. Hundreds of volunteers will take part in various legs of the tour, which will include thirty rally stops, traveling thru seventeen states in an effort to promote a public awareness.

"Every Missing Person is Somebody's Child"

[gaia227]

It seems pretty obvious, evidence or not, that the stepfather had something to do with her disappearence. I am guessing he had begun molesting her and he saw a 'golden' opportunity the day she stayed home sick to take it farther since they were alone. She resisted, perhaps started screaming and he killed her, disposed of the body. I cannot believe her mother has stayed married to him especially after learning he had been molesting her.

[Lucy's mom]

Some "mom's" are so completely under the spell of these men that harm their children that even hearing something like this and having your daughter disappear won't be enough for you to leave him. When I was 13 years old, I was home ill from school and my mom's boyfriend touched me very inappropriately. I stayed home from school the next day (knowing HE wouldn't be there) becasue I was so distraught by what happened. My mom was home from work as well and I broke down and told her what happened. She kicked him out and then let him back a week later. I moved out to my dad's house and refused to come back. I'm 37 years old now and my relationship with my mother is still not what it was prior to this incident. They ended up breaking up but not becasue of what he did to me. I honestly don't know why she did what she did but I can tell you I have a 17 year old daughter and would castrate anyone that touched my daughter inapproriately!!! Fortunately, she's never had to go through anything like that.