sweetpea657
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Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance
Missing Since: January 31, 1996 from Bolingbrook, Illinois
Classification: Endangered Missing
Date Of Birth: October 13, 1982
Age: 13 years old
Height and Weight: 5'0, 62 - 80 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Black hair, hazel eyes. Rachel has a mole on the upper left side of her lip. Her ears are pierced. Rachel is of Asian descent. She may use the last name Skemp, possibly in conjuction with the name Mellon, as in "Mellon-Skemp" or "Mellon Skemp."
Clothing Description: A pink sweater, yellow sweatpants, and red house slippers.
Details of Disappearance
Rachel was a seventh-grader at Ward Middle School in 1996. On January 31 of that year, she stayed home from school due to a sore throat. She was last seen taking a nap in her bedroom at her family's residence in Bolingbrook, Illinois sometime during the afternoon. Rachel was wrapped in a blue blanket at the time her stepfather, Vince Mellon, last saw her. Vince left the house to take the family's dog for a walk at 2:30 p.m., while Rachel was asleep. He left the door unlocked while he was gone.
Authorities maintain that Vince never checked on Rachel when he returned home half an hour later, but he stated that he did indeed notice his stepdaughter had disappeared after he finished the walk. Rachel was apparently reported missing to investigators at approximately 5:00 p.m. when her mother, Amy Mellon, and some other family members arrived home. Rachel has never been heard from again. The blanket she was wrapped in is also missing. However Rachel's winter clothes, shoes, and coat were not taken, even though it was below zero outside that day. Her purse and Walkman were also left behind at her residence.
An extensive search of the surrounding area turned up no signs of Rachel. Authorities stated she could not have survived long if she was outside and exposed to the elements. Initially it was thought that some of Rachel's relatives had taken her out of the state, but that theory has since been discarded.
Vince gave blood, semen, saliva and hair samples to authorities in 2000 when Rachel's case was reopened and a grand jury was convened to investigate. Authorities obtained a warrant to get the samples. Amy stated that she believed Rachel was alive and other persons knew her whereabouts. The Mellon family's attorneys said that the case was being re-investigated due to interest from the television program America's Most Wanted, which wanted to run a segment regarding Rachel's disappearance.
Authorities have stated that they believe foul play was involved in Rachel's disappearance. Vince has been considered a possible suspect in her case for several years. He has a long record for domestic violence and he failed lie detector tests in connection with Rachel's disappearance. The grand jury investigation ended in 2000 without any indictments handed down, but prosecutors were considering another attempt at closing Rachel's disappearance in 2001. 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. Authorities do not believe that Rachel ran away in 1996, although of some her clothing apparently disappeared with her. She was an honors student at school at the time she disappeared.
Rachel's father, Jeff Skemp, was living in Dallas, Texas at the time of her disappearance. He had separated from Amy when Rachel was a toddler. Skemp stated that the day Rachel vanished, she telephoned his mother. He said this was out of the ordinary for Rachel, as she was not allowed to talk to her grandmother. Skemp keeps his phone number listed in case Rachel tries to contact him, but he believes she met with foul play. He held a memorial service for her in 2006.
Rachel was an honors student at the time of her disappearance and her favorite school subject was science. She was interested in recycling and nature. Amy and Vince moved away from the area sometime after 1996. Rachel's disappearance remains unsolved and no arrests have been made in connection with her case, but her disappearance is being investigated as a homicide.
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/mellon_rachel.html