IL IL - Stanley Skridla, 28, & Mary Jane Reed, 17, Oregon, 1948

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The final resting place of Stanley Skridla was dug up Thursday morning at his family's request. Skridla, 28, and Mary Jane Reed, 17, were in his car in Oregon when they were shot to death in 1948. His body was exhumed to see if any clues were left inside his casket.

http://www.wrex.com/story/29184634/2015/05/28/some-answers-come-in-two-rockford-area-cold-case-murders
 
Oh please, please, please let there be that one clue that will assist in solving this horrible murder. This case has haunted me ever since I first heard about it many years ago. It makes me so sad for the families that have waited an eternity for justice.
 
"Murder case not closed, but amateur sleuth's involvement is"

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-oregon-cold-case-exhumation-update-met-20150529-story.html

"Hopefully my efforts over the past 17 years haven't been in vain," Arians said, "and that enough of the dots that I've created can be connected that law enforcement can color in the picture. That would be a perfect world for me."

But the local sheriff doesn't believe the case is much closer to being solved.

"There was a little bit more evidence that was found but nothing that's going to lead us directly to who killed their family members," Ogle County Sheriff Brian VanVickle said.
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Well that really leaves me feeling deflated...... I can't imagine how The Reed family and Mike Arians must be feeling. I was so hoping this would finally bring resolution to this horrible tradgedy. I want so badly for the responsible party(s) to be held accountable.... d@mnit anyway.

Mike Arians, if you are reading here I want you to know how much I admire your tenacity on your search for the truth. One day I intend to take a drive up your way and come into your restaraunt and introduce myself to you..... I want to make your aquantance and shake your hand. I want you to know that there are some who believe in you and wanted you to succeed in revealing the truth. I want the good old boys club to be shaken to the core and be shown for what they are.

Mary Jane and Stanley, I am so very sorry that once again it seems that those who want to keep the truth hidden will do just that. The two of you deserve better than this.
 
I have followed this case time to time over the last ten years--one of my former neighbors grew up not very far from where this happened and that is how I was introduced to this case.

Stanley Skridla's remains were exhumed back in late May, 2015 with the hope at least some usable evidence would be found.

http://www.wifr.com/home/headlines/Exhumation-Requested-213401111.html

While there was no extra skull as some had suspected, the coroner did find a couple of intact bullets! These were something that also was on the list of things they hoped to find. Unfortunately, not much else was found, that was of much interest. Unlike Reed's body, which was exhumed about ten years ago, Stanley's body was not in good condition (it was essentially skeletal remains). Water had leaked into the concrete vault over the years; the wooden casket was found waterlogged and it had collapsed in on itself sometime in the nearly seventy years it had been buried. But, the skeleton was in good condition and the bullets recovered can hopefully be matched to others--and bullet trajectories can be made using the bones in many cases.

Personally, I think too much time has gone by for this case to actually be solved in the official sense, though I understand at least one or two "persons of interest" are still alive and live in the area.
 
http://www.saukvalley.com/2015/12/2...-arent-the-murder-weapons-tests-show/apbk222/

Tests done on two bullets found in the casket of a 1948 murder victim earlier this year revealed no new information about a decades-old unsolved double homicide.

A handgun given to the Ogle County Sheriff's Department also was tested.

On Tuesday, Sheriff Brian VanVickle released the findings of Illinois State Police Crime Lab tests done on a .32 caliber handgun turned over to investigators and on the two .32 caliber bullets found in Stanley Skridla's casket when his remains were exhumed from Calvary Cemetery, west of Rockford, on May 28.
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Ted Gregory was on Coast to Coast AM tonight talking about his book Mary Jane's Ghost...
 
...
Stanley Skridla was 28 years old in 1948. He was born May 8, 1920, and attended school in Rockford, graduating from Rockford High School. Stan served in the U.S. Navy from October 1943 until December 1945. He had been stationed in the Pacific and had seen action on the island of Guam during World War II. He was honorably discharged Dec. 20, 1945.

In February 1946, Stan was employed by the Illinois Bell Telephone Company as a lineman. He was working in the Oregon, Illinois, area in 1948 and living with his widowed mother, Amelia, in a house on Loomis Street in Rockford.

Mary Jane Reed grew up in Oregon, Illinois. Her parents were Mr. and Mrs. Clifford Reed, and her father worked at the silica plant in Oregon. Mary Jane was reported to be popular, especially with the opposite sex. That is easy to understand when one sees her picture. She had a very captivating smile, blondish-red hair and beautiful blue eyes.

Stanley and Mary Jane met through their jobs with the telephone company. She was a telephone operator with DeKalb-Ogle Telephone Company, and Stanley was working in the area. They arranged for a date on Thursday, June 24, 1948, when Mary Jane finished her shift at 10 p.m. ...

LINK:

The mysterious deaths of Stan Skridla and Mary Jane Reed | Haunted Rockford
 

Mary Jane Reed, 17 and Stanley Skridla, 28
Murdered 25 June 1948

In Oregon, Illinois on the evening of June 25, 1948, 17-year-old Mary Jane Reed was on a date with 28-year-old Stanley Skridla. The couple went to a few nightspots and was last seen driving toward County Farm Road, the local lovers’ lane on the outskirts of town. The next morning, Stanley’s body was found at the side of the road. He was shot several times and his vehicle was half a mile away. He still had his wallet, ruling out robbery.

Four days later, Mary Jane’s body was found in a ditch three kilometers (two miles) north of Stanley. She was shot once in the head, and there didn’t seem to be any sign of sexual assault. One possible suspect was a married Oregon police officer who had allegedly been conducting an affair with Mary Jane. She reportedly broke off the affair a few days before her date with Stanley, and eyewitnesses claimed they saw this officer tailing them on the night of the murders.

However, there was no evidence to tie him to the crime and the case went cold for several decades. In 2005, the case was reopened and Mary Jane’s body was exhumed. To everyone’s shock, the skull in Mary Jane’s casket wasn’t actually hers! To date, her actual skull has never been found, adding another bizarre element to this unsolved mystery.

LINK:

10 Unsolved Cases Involving Murdered Couples - Listverse
 
Someone got to go for an entire lifetime after snuffing out these two lives, unpunished. My only consolation is that they paid the price in the hereafter, and the hope their life was troubled and full of woe.

Beyond that I am without words that would not send me to the naughty chair........
 
I apologize in advance for mixing in the paranormal with this absolute factual post, but I happened upon an episode of the show "The Dead Files" today and the medium pretty much placed the death upon Chief Deputy Willard “Jiggs” Burright. Based on this episode, I believe there is concrete circumstantial evidence to corroborate the information.
 
VaYank5150 said:
I apologize in advance for mixing in the paranormal with this absolute factual post, but I happened upon an episode of the show "The Dead Files" today and the medium pretty much placed the death upon Chief Deputy Willard “Jiggs” Burright. Based on this episode, I believe there is concrete circumstantial evidence to corroborate the information.
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Jiggs Burright was always at the top of the suspect list. Back then the "Good Ole Boys Club" was going strong and old Jiggs was a member in good standing. I had heard some stories about him years ago and to say he was a colorful character is an understatement.

How I wish there could be some justice for Mary Jane and Stanley.......
 
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