IL IL - Debbi Kozlarek, 17, & Carol Van Der Molen, 13, Chicago, 23 Sept 1972

At 11:00 PM, on the evening of September 22. 1972, two teenage girls from the Back of the Yards area on the South side of Chicago, were last seen walking in the 5100 block of South Elizabeth. Their names were Debbie Kozlarek 17, and Carolyn Vandermolen 13. The following morning their bodies were found just off the bridle path in Washington Park, west of the 5200 block of Payne Drive. Both girls had been shot in the back of the head execution style with a 32 caliber pistol.

No one has ever been arrested for the crimes.

Here is a video detailing their last day and night.

[video=youtube;I9K0a22vKPo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9K0a22vKPo[/video]

News paper articles

"2 More Girls Found Slain"
http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1972/09/24/page/1/article/2-more-girls-found-slain

"Slain Girl Turns Up Alive"
http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1972/09/25/page/1/article/slain-girl-turns-up-alive

"Trace Slain Girls Steps"
http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1972/09/26/page/1/article/trace-slain-girls-steps

"Time Of Death Told In Killings"
http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1972/09/27/page/2/article/time-of-death-told-in-killings

The 1970s in Chicago saw many sensational homicides that made the news. There were also several that kind of slipped under the radar. While I am sure this is not a complete documentation of them - here are a few that quickly disappeared from the headlines.

All remain unsolved to this day.

The Kozlarek/Vandermolen murders detailed in the above post held the city's attention for all of about a week then fell off the radar and the front page.

Then there was this case.

Amy Alden, 15, appeared in the newspapers for one day after she was found strangled to death on September 22, 1972. Amy's body was discovered the day before the Kozlarek/Vandermolen girls.

Here is the Chicago Tribune account (article to the far right) which I believe was the only reference to this crime in the news.
http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1972/10/07/page/10/article/the-real-amy-alden

A few years later, a teen was found bludgeoned to the point of being unrecognizable.
She survived for 12 days in the hospital then died of her injuries. Fortunately she was identified and friends and family were notified.
Her name was Deborah Lynn Rosencrans, and she was discovered in Schiller Park Woods.

These cases may have taken a more prominent role in the news of the day but the murders of 33 young men and boys by John Wayne Gacy in the late 1970s, took center stage and unfortunately,relegated these lesser known cases into obscurity.

Chicago Cold Case Murders of Debbie Kozlarek,Carolyn Vandermolen in 1972

THE DARK SIDE OF CHICAGO