IL IL - Debbie Fijan, 10, DuPage County, 11 Feb 1966 - #2

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JS was elected for a third term as High. Comm. on 04/05/67. This would have been very close to the terrible incident with KNS - early April, 1967 (?) and before JS drown in Clearwater West Lake (Atikokan, Ontario) on 05/22/67 per the Aurora Beacon News. When I Googled this lake, it was described as having "average depths of 90 feet". JS's body was never found, which I thought was rather strange. JS was the incumbent HC when he ran in 1963, which most of you sleuther's already know. Sorry if this is redundant, I just need to "think & type" this down to get some sort of chronological order - even if this was after Debbie's death.

Good point Cubby about the 90 acre parcel/plat that LS owned - not leased, as I had questioned in a previous post. Klein's, as I think you had previously mentioned, owned a good portion of land on the north side of Lies (east side of Fair Oaks, >100 acres?). Debbie's body was found on the south side of Lies, east side of Fair Oaks. I recall driving by the area with my parents just a few days after her funeral. Though many years have past, I still have very vivid memories of that time. I don't think Cubby that Kline's/Klein's were the same. If I recall, the Kline's owned quite a bit of land south of St. Charles Rd., west (and some east) side of Cnty. Farm Rd. I think there was a Kline Creek, and some historical farm south of St. Charles Rd.? More to follow.
 
My mistake in earlier entry above. JS owned the 90 acres, at/near the end of Lies (west side of Fair Oaks); in plain view of where Debbie was found. I need to proof things better before I hit "submit reply" - oops.
 
Okay, this may be totally off but I've been thinking about the drowning of JS and why LS has never come forward to prove his innocence. Could it be that LS did indeed give Debbie a ride home that night but instead of taking her all the way home dropped her at the corner of her street and Fair Oaks? Could he then have seen her talking to someone else who could have murdered her. Or did LS maybe not give her a ride home but somehow know who murdered her? Was the supposed drowning of JS a warning to LS not to talk about what he knew? There are a lot of weird things about this whole case. I am just thinking about how all these things could fit together.
 
Ktoolz said:
Okay, this may be totally off but I've been thinking about the drowning of JS and why LS has never come forward to prove his innocence. Could it be that LS did indeed give Debbie a ride home that night but instead of taking her all the way home dropped her at the corner of her street and Fair Oaks? Could he then have seen her talking to someone else who could have murdered her. Or did LS maybe not give her a ride home but somehow know who murdered her? Was the supposed drowning of JS a warning to LS not to talk about what he knew? There are a lot of weird things about this whole case. I am just thinking about how all these things could fit together.
Click to expand...


Using this post as a spring board. I've thought about that.... a witness (teachers husband who lived near that intersection) states that a girl wearing a coat/jacket that looked like Debbie was seen talking to a man in a white car on St. Charles Road just east of Fair Oaks. The witness was driving north on Fair Oaks and happened to be look east at the intersection of Fair Oaks and St. Charles.

LS's statement (per msm) was that he last saw Debbie on the swings (in front of the school? ) and 'sent her home'.

Now some unanswered questions).

Did she leave right when LS told her to?
What did LS do after sending Debbie home?
Did he go back into the school?
Or get into his car and drive home?

If LS was in the school parking lot or driving out of the school parking lot, shouldn't he have been a second witness to this white car with a man driving and talking to Debbie? Debbie didn't get but a few hundred feet from the school before she was abducted, so it seems almost impossible for LS to have missed a white car lurking in the area as he and Debbie were leaving about the same time.

Debbie was abducted while she was still on St. Charles road. She never made it to Fair Oaks Road, so how is it LS didn't see her talking to this man in a white car if they left about the same time?

And why did LS refuse to give LE the route he took home?

No matter which way you look at them, his story doesn't make sense.

Even if his silence was due to the embarassment of having *advertiser censored* in school, this many years later a simple statement such as due to the times and my religious upbringing, I remained silent due to the shame of having the *advertiser censored*, but this is what I remember from that day....

I'd bet my last dollar he remembers the exact route he drove home on February 11, 1966 to this day. The events of that day will be forever burned in the memory of those involved (all involved incl. family and friends.).

As long as the case remains unsolved and if he is innocent, he can still help by coming forward with the information he was asked and never provided LE.

This case is solvable. Someone knows what happened to Debbie and who is responsible for her murder. It's not too late to make that call to Detectives.

Anyone with information on Debbie's murder should contact Dupage County cold case unit at 630-407-2400.

http://www.dupagesheriff.org/VictimServices/152/
 
Ktoolz said:
Okay, this may be totally off but I've been thinking about the drowning of JS and why LS has never come forward to prove his innocence. Could it be that LS did indeed give Debbie a ride home that night but instead of taking her all the way home dropped her at the corner of her street and Fair Oaks? Could he then have seen her talking to someone else who could have murdered her. Or did LS maybe not give her a ride home but somehow know who murdered her? Was the supposed drowning of JS a warning to LS not to talk about what he knew? There are a lot of weird things about this whole case. I am just thinking about how all these things could fit together.
Click to expand...


Sorry to quote you again, but Debbie's street ran parallel to Lies and was south of Lies. LS would have had to turn left onto her street prior to reaching Lies. Or, stopped on Fair Oaks at the intersection of her street and let her out at the corner. Debbie would have had to continue walking past her street to reach Lies.

I can't imagine why LS would not tell LE who murdered Debbie, if it was someone other than himself and he knew who was responsible.

JS died in a fishing accident up in Canada. IIRC, they were out on a boat fishing when a strong storm came in and the accident was a result of the storm.
 
Another question I have about this case. There were 3 white cars in question. Was LS's the only one processed or were all 3 white cars processed?

I asked this because there is an MSM article stating the fibers on Debbie's boots were different than those in LS's car.

I also wonder if the car's floor mats were replaced in LS's car before it was processed? could this explain the different fibers?

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...wYDYCg&usg=AFQjCNHx3mp_67AeQc2IS1br1OnYWwXOcQ
FIBERS IN CAR, DEBBIE'S BOOTS ARE DIFFERENThttp://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...wYDYCg&usg=AFQjCNHx3mp_67AeQc2IS1br1OnYWwXOcQ

‎
Pay-Per-View - Chicago Tribune - Mar 19, 1966
Gary D. McAlvey, state police laboratory technician, said yes- terday that fibers taken from the boots of slain Debbie Fijan, 10, were "entirely different" from fibers ...
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http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...wYDYCg&usg=AFQjCNHx3mp_67AeQc2IS1br1OnYWwXOcQhttp://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...wYDYCg&usg=AFQjCNHx3mp_67AeQc2IS1br1OnYWwXOcQ

 
Thanks for the clarification Cubby! Some of those facts I did not know. I guess I need to go back and read all the past threads. There is no doubt there are so many unanswered questions about this case!
 
Some of the above info was from pay to view articles which someone purchased and summarized here at WS.

Some of it may have been shared via private message or email by people who wanted to share what they remembered but were too shy to post.

A little bit of it I was able to get from LE with the questions they were able to answer.

hth
 
Cubby said:
Another question I have about this case. There were 3 white cars in question. Was LS's the only one processed or were all 3 white cars processed?

I asked this because there is an MSM article stating the fibers on Debbie's boots were different than those in LS's car.

I also wonder if the car's floor mats were replaced in LS's car before it was processed? could this explain the different fibers?
Click to expand...


It's certainly possible that the mats had been switched... Keep in mind that LS's clothes had been changed and most likely destroyed prior to his interrogation, so the same having been done with the car is, in my opinion, not only possible but likely. Also, the carpet in the cabin of a car is different from the carpet of the mats, which is also different from the carpeting in the trunk area.
The fibers may not have even come from the vehicle-We've speculated that LS had time to take Debbie somewhere and complete his attack. Were the carpets in the home ever checked? I don't recall reading anything in that regard.
I believe this case will be solved. I can't say why, for certain, but this is one of those cases that I feel will be resolved in time.
 
I'm very hopeful that Debbie's case will get solved. My heart tells me one thing, my mind tells me something different. Many "old" cold cases have been solved, as recently as yesterdays announcement regarding the "Boston Strangler". I want Debbie's killer to be alive when her case is solved, and I can assure all of you "sleuthers" that I will make the trip to DuPage Cnty. if/when he is returned and brought to justice. I will continue to pray for Debbie's family, and the detectives that are trying to solve her case.
 
I'm pulling this over from thread #1. Sometimes we forget what we've read if it was posted some time ago.

Originally posted by Abbey5:

Well, I read an article in the Daily Herald (Chicago) Feb. 17, 1966 that finally gave more answers to the white car. A witness stated he had seen a girl he believed to be Debbie talking to a man in a white car matching the description of Schofield's car. There you go Cubbby, it was Schofield's car.

This article also answered another question. Hopf reported that when Schofield was requested Monday to bring in the clothes he wore on Friday, he and his wife Mary Ann, were found to have switched the clothes. I wish they would have stated how they knew this and if they did anything about it.

During the first polygraph test that Schofield took he reacted strongly when confronted with a mounted duck that Debbie had taken to school on Friday for show and tell. This mounted duck was found along with her books near her body. I had never heard about this duck before. But I remember reading an article that said feathers were found in Schofields car and wondered what the heck that meant.

Sheriff's detectives did go back to the school and found charred remains of a number of pictures of nude women in the school incinerator. Schofield explained his action by saying that he didn't want to become implicated in an investigation. Capt. Mertes and Sgt Rowe reasoned that his action took place some two hours in advance of the discovery of Debbie's body. Schofield did confess that he enjoyed looking at "girlie pictures" and he day-dreamed about his pupils. He told LE that, "I'm sick. I need help. I shouldn't be on the streets. I don't want to go home". Capt Mertes stated that it was very strange that Schofield remembered everything on Sat & Sun but on Monday couldn't remember anything that happened.

The location on Lies Road, east of Fair Oaks Road, the Benjamin School and the Fijan home are all within a square mile of each other.

Schofield lived at 4N512 Gary Ave., Cloverdale. Which I think is really Bloomingdale. And the Schofield farm was on Fair Oaks north of Lies Road. Since, Schofield said he had taken Debbie home before, the route he took home goes past where her body was found and really close to his fathers farm.

Capt Mertes grew up in the area and had known the Schofield family for years. And I read in another article the Schofields had sold eggs from their farm to the local jail that they used to feed the inmates.

This article answered a lot of questions that I had. It seems to me that LE had gathered a lot of evidence. Why this case never made it to court is beyond me. Even if they didn't have a written confession or a murder weapon, they had a ton on this guy. Maybe, his father's postition in the community did hold a lot of weight.
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IL IL - Debbie Fijan, age 10, abducted and murdered in DuPage County, Feb 1966 - #1 - Page 7 - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community


The above post caused me to wonder, did LS ever finally give LE the route he took home? I seem to recall from earlier postings about MSM articles, he refused to give police the route he took home the day of Debbie's murder.
 
I have access to a lot of old newspapers through the library. When I get a chance, I'll look into this one!
 
Thank you for checking in on Debbie's thread, mandiedq! Glad to have more eyes on this still unsolved case out of DuPage County.

Please let us know if you have any questions and we can try and direct you to where those answers might lay within the threads for Debbie's case.
 
I am pretty new to this case, so I'm putting my notes here as I read through things. Here is the map of Debbie's house to the school. (I have friends that live within a couple of blocks of this so I frequent this area.)

http://goo.gl/maps/SVAZ0

It should be noted that the odd address (28W575 Wynne) is how they do unincorporated addresses in the western suburbs. 28W simply means it is 28 miles west of Chicago (whatever point in Chicago they use to measure). This is unincorporated West Chicago (Most of WC is west and south of this area) and is awfully close to Carol Stream which is just barely north of this location.


Wayne Township and Wayne (city) are different.

Township: http://www.waynetwp-il.org/
City/village: http://www.villageofwayne.org/ (West of IL-59/Neltnor for those of you familiar with the area.)

ETA: These are responses to reading through the first topic. Now I'm starting on this thread. Fascinating.
 
Ok. I just finished reading all of this. Wow.

Cubby: any updates from DuPage county cold case folk?
 
I was in contact with the detectives earlier this year, but nothing recently. I do know they are still actively working the case.
 
Some of my post may have been addressed previously, so I apologize if this is duplication for some of you. LS DOB was 06/30/39(?). He enrolled at Quincy College, and I believe he was there from 1957 - 1962; thus "avoiding" the draft. Does anyone know what his education was in, and whether or not he had his "teaching certificate" (if that was even required back then in order to teach)? I'd like to find out who was on the school board when LS started at Benjamin in 1964(?) Again, maybe "school boards" didn't exist, or maybe the teachers were hired by ?? I would be very curious to find out if there was any "family influence" on getting LS in the door. HIs father (JS), his mother (ES/Klein) other relatives? I'm not sure how long those records (if any) would be kept, but I think I will contact the DuPage Cnty./Wayne Township School District 25 to see what, if anything, I can find out. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
 
Kayo - 55 said:
Some of my post may have been addressed previously, so I apologize if this is duplication for some of you. LS DOB was 06/30/39(?). He enrolled at Quincy College, and I believe he was there from 1957 - 1962; thus "avoiding" the draft. Does anyone know what his education was in, and whether or not he had his "teaching certificate" (if that was even required back then in order to teach)? I'd like to find out who was on the school board when LS started at Benjamin in 1964(?) Again, maybe "school boards" didn't exist, or maybe the teachers were hired by ?? I would be very curious to find out if there was any "family influence" on getting LS in the door. HIs father (JS), his mother (ES/Klein) other relatives? I'm not sure how long those records (if any) would be kept, but I think I will contact the DuPage Cnty./Wayne Township School District 25 to see what, if anything, I can find out. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

I looked in the newspaper archive I have access to and it lists nothing.
 
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