IL IL - Amy Todd Fleming, 25, Lee County, 11 January 1996

[:+:MrTT:+:]

Just looking in on WS! Amy was my cousin. I told her mom about cold case on tnt a year ago, she was going to look into it. It will be 20 yrs in January. She was an amazing person! I and thousands more would love to see this solved!

Do you have any visual aids? I read here in the thread it was snowing that night and the morning she was found. If not a heavy snow to cover up tire tracks. Do you know if any were found leading to and from the house?.......Do you have a picture of the house? And one thread mentioned the phone lines cut? In 96 I believe cell phones were becoming popular. Do you recall if she had one. Cutting the phones lines may indicate the killer knew she had no phone/cell phone...Those items stolen, are easy pawn shop items...If the killer wanted it to look like a robbery, he could have pawned the items or simply through them away after leaving....................

I ask about the tire tracks to try and determine if someone drove to get there, or perhaps walked from a nearby house.

Sorry for your loss. And welcome to Websleuths.

The killer waited until dark, cut the phones lines? Was that outside? Or the phone line attached to the line line phone inside? The cutting occurred after her last phone call to a love one, after 830pm that night if i remember correctly. And was cut AFTER she got off the phone apparently.

Was she strangled with a phone cord or electric cord from a lamp? Something from inside the house or perhaps brought with the killer?

Where was she found, bedroom, living room, kitchen area?

No sign of forced entry? He cut the phone lines then entered the house? Where was the phone box located on the house?
I would not know which wire to cut. So I would cut them all. A amauther perhaps would cut them all to get the right one. But someone with experience may cut only the correct wires. Which may indicate a younger male or older man.

A microwave oven and VCR were stolen....But the place not ransacked? Which is why they presume it was made to look like a robbery, so not to them the reason why they were there was to kill her with strangulation. NOT gunshot, or knife wound, but strangulation. Not with bare hands?...A quite method and prevents her from screaming out, yelling from being attacked.

But why her? What could she have done to anyone to make them want to kill her on this night?

Was she sexually assaulted?
Or just murdered?

Sorry for asking so many questions. We rarely get any crime scene photos. So we ask to get a better picture on how things looked during the time. If you don't know the answers to my questions. It is fine.

 

[firemedic1981]

Hello WS!! I first off want to say Thankyou for keeping this story current. I can only answer,what has been in the paper and I'm trying to think. I don't want any information getting out that was only privileged to the family or rumors that made it's way around. Amy was home alone that night because Derek was in another state at a cattle show. All her valuables were still in the house they made it look like a robbery. She wasn't raped. But she did fight like hell. They believe she was subdued before the strangulation. This wasn't a random act. The scene wasn't secured off as quickly and there was heavy traffic in and around the house. It snowed that night but any tracks made was gone by the time they cleared the cars from the crime scene. If you have anymore questions please feel free to ask. Amy was an amazing women who deserved a life of more then 25 years.

 

[firemedic1981]

Unfortunately small rural towns we never locked are doors. No forced entry!

 

[:+:MrTT:+:]

Hello WS!! I first off want to say Thankyou for keeping this story current. I can only answer,what has been in the paper and I'm trying to think. I don't want any information getting out that was only privileged to the family or rumors that made it's way around. Amy was home alone that night because Derek was in another state at a cattle show. All her valuables were still in the house they made it look like a robbery. She wasn't raped. But she did fight like hell. They believe she was subdued before the strangulation. This wasn't a random act. The scene wasn't secured off as quickly and there was heavy traffic in and around the house. It snowed that night but any tracks made was gone by the time they cleared the cars from the crime scene. If you have anymore questions please feel free to ask. Amy was an amazing women who deserved a life of more then 25 years.

If he knew she was alone there would be no reason to cut the phone lines. If more than one there, then cutting make sense. He went in and she was attacked, she would not have been able to grab the land line push/dial a emergency number and report she is being attacked.........He may have thought she had a alarm system of some kind installed. Can you tell us if she did? Or had a sign in her yard or door that states there was a security system installed? Perhaps to say there was one, but there really was not?

Since she was not sexually assaulted the motive becomes more unclear. Makes me wonder if the killer thought she was not at home also? But would need to know about the security sign, if there was one to determine if perhaps he cut the wires to disable a possible alarm system, or he cut the wires believing someone inside may make a phone call once he got in.

If she put up a good fight, then i assume you make that statement because of defensive wounds? But if no weapon was used to kill her then I am not sure what kind of defensive wounds would be view able to determine she put up a good fight.

If the motive was to just kill her and not rob or rape her then i wonder why he was there?

If she was strangled with an item in the house, then the killer didn't bring anything to kill her if that was his primary motive. Which does not make sense. Why plan on killing someone if you dont bring a weapon of some kind to do it?

Did they release information in the press she was found bound somehow, and was strangle with a cord from a lamp, or other item with a cord inside the house? If you plan on killing someone, you usually bring the item with you to do it instead of waiting and getting there and then looking around for something to kill them with.

Were these houses close together like in a neighborhood, or spread far apart?

Do you have a photo of the house that may have been posted in the local paper at the time of the crime?

 

[Gunther Toody]

If he knew she was alone there would be no reason to cut the phone lines. If more than one there, then cutting make sense. He went in and she was attacked, she would not have been able to grab the land line push/dial a emergency number and report she is being attacked.........He may have thought she had a alarm system of some kind installed. Can you tell us if she did? Or had a sign in her yard or door that states there was a security system installed? Perhaps to say there was one, but there really was not?

Since she was not sexually assaulted the motive becomes more unclear. Makes me wonder if the killer thought she was not at home also? But would need to know about the security sign, if there was one to determine if perhaps he cut the wires to disable a possible alarm system, or he cut the wires believing someone inside may make a phone call once he got in.

If she put up a good fight, then i assume you make that statement because of defensive wounds? But if no weapon was used to kill her then I am not sure what kind of defensive wounds would be view able to determine she put up a good fight.

If the motive was to just kill her and not rob or rape her then i wonder why he was there?

If she was strangled with an item in the house, then the killer didn't bring anything to kill her if that was his primary motive. Which does not make sense. Why plan on killing someone if you dont bring a weapon of some kind to do it?

Did they release information in the press she was found bound somehow, and was strangle with a cord from a lamp, or other item with a cord inside the house? If you plan on killing someone, you usually bring the item with you to do it instead of waiting and getting there and then looking around for something to kill them with.

Were these houses close together like in a neighborhood, or spread far apart?

Do you have a photo of the house that may have been posted in the local paper at the time of the crime?

I quickly glanced through the thread...
What was she strangled with?

Her valuables were left behind?
What were they? People looking for quick drug money would easily bypass items that were hard to sell.
Apparently a microwave oven and a VCR were taken.

What is Derek's background?
Is it possible they were looking for him for some reason?

How was their relationship?

Its very odd that someone would go through all the trouble to cut phone lines, go into the home, beat and strangle a woman for no reason. Did she have extensive facial bruising or was she hit with an object that incapacitated her, such as a lamp base?

What position was her body found in?

 

[Quad]

http://www.daily-chronicle.com

 

[Quad]

http://www.daily-chronicle.com/2016...my-todd-fleming-and-its-time-to-tell/azcbod8/

 

[Quad]

DIXON – A little more than a week after the 20th anniversary of Amy Todd Fleming’s death, Lee County Sheriff’s Office is following new leads in her unsolved murder case.

On Jan. 11, 1996, Fleming, 25, was found strangled at her home off Route 30 in rural Lee. Fleming, a middle school special education teacher at Indian Creek School District 425, was found by co-workers after she failed to show up to work that morning.

After news articles were published about the case on the 20th anniversary of Fleming’s murder, Lee County Detective Sgt. Shane Miller said he has received as many as four calls in one day with tips about Fleming’s murder.

“We have had six to eight new leads, some with information we’ve never heard before,” Miller said. “We’ve been given good information, information that is going to help our investigation.” http://www.daily-chronicle.com/2016...20-year-old-murder-of-shabbona-woman/a4scjsz/

 

[Quad]

It was January 11, 1996 and Amy Fleming didn't show up for work at Indian Creek Middle School.
Two of her co-workers went to check on her at her home in Lee County. They made a horrifying discovery in her bedroom. Amy had been strangled to death.

"My dad got on the phone, and I can't remember if he said she died or if she'd been killed, and I just went, I blanked," http://www.wrex.com/story/30940225/...ld-case-of-murdered-lee-co-teacher-still-open

 

[Quad]

The Lee County Sheriff's Office is investigating new tips about a teacher's murder after WREX ran a story on the cold case last week. http://www.wrex.com/story/31007381/...murdered-lee-co-teacher#.Vp8URWznnso.facebook

 

[STANDREID]

There sure are a lot of wives who just happen to be murdered while their husbands are "away on business".:thinking:

Strangulation can be a method because it's up close and personal but it's also the only practical method, other than stomping, where you can murder a person when you don't happen to have weapon handy.

 

[msteach]

This is very encouraging. The local papers ran articles last week about the fact that it has been unsolved for 20 years and they said that since then, they have had more new leads than they have had in years. Still praying for peace and justice for Amy and her family. Somebody knows something. Glad to see that folks are stepping forward and sharing info. There was another case in the area a few years back that had been unsolved for close to 50 years and they solved it, too -- so there is always hope.

http://www.saukvalley.com/2016/01/21/new-leads-come-in-on-lee-county-murder-case/ak0tmaj/

 

[Quad]

"Amy was home alone that night because Derek was in another state at a cattle show. All her valuables were still in the house they made it look like a robbery. She wasn't raped. But she did fight like hell. They believe she was subdued before the strangulation."


Firemedic..... Do you know if any DNA was recovered from under her fingernails?

 

[Quad]

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.760...m4!1siRsMuAW2U5UbXqDLJ9uRUA!2e0!7i3328!8i1664

 

[Quad]

the link above is the map Amy's house

 

[Quad]

Our View: Someone knows who killed Amy Todd Fleming and it's time to tell......
http://www.daily-chronicle.com/2016...my-todd-fleming-and-its-time-to-tell/azcbod8/

 

[Quad]

Hello WS!! I first off want to say Thankyou for keeping this story current. I can only answer,what has been in the paper and I'm trying to think. I don't want any information getting out that was only privileged to the family or rumors that made it's way around. Amy was home alone that night because Derek was in another state at a cattle show. All her valuables were still in the house they made it look like a robbery. She wasn't raped. But she did fight like hell. They believe she was subdued before the strangulation. This wasn't a random act. The scene wasn't secured off as quickly and there was heavy traffic in and around the house. It snowed that night but any tracks made was gone by the time they cleared the cars from the crime scene. If you have anymore questions please feel free to ask. Amy was an amazing women who deserved a life of more then 25 years.

Was it determined for sure that Derek was out of town? Thru receipts or records? Do you know if there was a life insurance policy on Amy....I understand if you cannot answer these questions....

 

[Quad]

I live in Shabbona.... the roots here run VERY deep......... Someone knows and it is time to tell.......

http://www.daily-chronicle.com/2016...familys-pain-has-not-subsided/a9tgo7b/?page=1

Twenty years! Twenty years? We are still adjusting as a family to the loss of a daughter and sister. We seem to have different emotions on different days and for different reasons.

As a family, we are not the only ones who suffer with her loss. She touched many lives during her life. She was a tremendous friend to anyone she met, a mentor to those she coached in basketball, and a supportive colleague to all at the Indian Creek Middle

 

[Quad]

I wonder whatever happened to the VCR and Microwave...I suppose they are long gone... but.. maybe not... It might be helpful if a photo of those items was released by police...who knows... they could still be sitting in someones barn or basement.....

 

[Quad]

“Whoever did this knew exactly what they were doing. They set out to do this. This was planned all along,” she said.

The sheriff said his investigators have found that certain people interviewed in the case haven’t been forward, and they’ve been surprised by the way these people have reacted to their questions.

http://www.daily-chronicle.com/2011/01/11/fifteen-years-later-slaying-still-unsolved/ah66ynb/