WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:04.919 This podcast is based on information sourced primarily from police 2 00:00:05.040 --> 00:00:09.560 and media reports, but certain names and other identifying details 3 00:00:09.960 --> 00:00:14.439 may have been changed or altered for privacy and security reasons. 4 00:00:14.640 --> 00:00:19.719 While the events in cases discussed are based on real investigations, 5 00:00:19.760 --> 00:00:24.960 some aspects may be simplified for time and for narrative purposes. 6 00:00:25.359 --> 00:00:29.920 Voice actors have been used to read from statements or documents. 7 00:00:30.120 --> 00:00:36.240 All information presented is intended solely to inform and raise awareness. 8 00:00:36.399 --> 00:00:41.079 Hosts may discuss theories regarding the cases examined in this podcast, 9 00:00:41.520 --> 00:00:45.960 but such discussions are not intended to and should not 10 00:00:46.240 --> 00:00:51.439 be considered by the listener to be legal conclusions. All 11 00:00:51.479 --> 00:00:56.840 persons discussed are considered innocent until proven guilty in a 12 00:00:56.920 --> 00:01:00.000 court of law. Listener discretion is advised. 13 00:01:02.479 --> 00:01:05.799 This is Chief Anna Lally. Welcome to Somebody Knows Something, 14 00:01:06.239 --> 00:01:09.359 a podcast from the Elgin Police Department's Cold Case Unit. 15 00:01:10.040 --> 00:01:12.680 In this podcast, we will shed new light on cold 16 00:01:12.719 --> 00:01:16.439 cases in the city of Elgin by sharing untold details 17 00:01:16.799 --> 00:01:20.519 and by encouraging anyone with information to come forward. You 18 00:01:20.560 --> 00:01:23.359 will come along with real cold case detectives as they 19 00:01:23.400 --> 00:01:26.840 investigate active cold cases in real time and seek justice 20 00:01:26.879 --> 00:01:30.439 for the victims and closure for their families. We believe 21 00:01:30.480 --> 00:01:33.239 that the Elgin Police Department and our community can work 22 00:01:33.280 --> 00:01:36.680 together to bring closure to cold cases because we know 23 00:01:36.799 --> 00:01:39.560 that in these cases, somebody knows something. 24 00:01:43.359 --> 00:01:45.879 Hello, and welcome to Somebody Knows something. The Elgin Police 25 00:01:45.920 --> 00:01:47.359 Department Cold Case Podcast. 26 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:48.560 My name is. 27 00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:52.760 Detective Andrew Houghton, and I'm a detective Chris Hall. Last episode, 28 00:01:52.760 --> 00:01:55.519 in part one, we interviewed Barbara Glukert's brother Bob and 29 00:01:55.560 --> 00:01:58.200 her niece Nicole. They told us a lot about Barbara 30 00:01:58.359 --> 00:02:00.439 and talked about the impact that her disappearce had on 31 00:02:00.480 --> 00:02:02.920 her family, her community, and even the officers involved in 32 00:02:02.920 --> 00:02:05.680 her case. Bob ended our episode with a plead of 33 00:02:05.719 --> 00:02:08.280 the public to provide as much information as you can 34 00:02:08.599 --> 00:02:10.039 to help try to bring Barbara home. 35 00:02:11.080 --> 00:02:13.120 In this episode, you're going to hear the story of 36 00:02:13.159 --> 00:02:16.199 Barbara's disappearance directly from one of the detectives who worked 37 00:02:16.280 --> 00:02:19.400 this case for nearly two decades, and you will hear 38 00:02:19.439 --> 00:02:23.000 from people who actually knew the suspect, Thom Sirlacker, including 39 00:02:23.039 --> 00:02:25.240 one woman who was nearly another victim of him in 40 00:02:25.319 --> 00:02:27.120 Elgin in their early nineteen seventies. 41 00:02:38.800 --> 00:02:41.840 Last episode, we described how dedicated Mike Nelson was from 42 00:02:41.840 --> 00:02:44.439 the Mount Prospect Police Department when he worked on Barbara's case. 43 00:02:45.400 --> 00:02:48.560 According to the Gluecrat family, the entire Mount Prospect Police 44 00:02:48.599 --> 00:02:52.520 Department and Detective Nelson specifically have really done everything they 45 00:02:52.520 --> 00:02:55.800 can on her case. Now they're even letting us discuss 46 00:02:55.879 --> 00:02:57.879 this and look at Barbara's case in a new attempt 47 00:02:57.919 --> 00:03:00.439 to try to bring her home. We want to thank 48 00:03:00.479 --> 00:03:03.919 the Mount Prospect Police Department, the Gluecrat family, and Detective 49 00:03:03.919 --> 00:03:07.520 Nelson for allowing us the opportunity to tell Barbara's story. 50 00:03:08.360 --> 00:03:12.159 Barber's brother, Bob, also described how much Barber's disappearance impacted 51 00:03:12.360 --> 00:03:15.400 even the men who worked on the case. They had 52 00:03:15.439 --> 00:03:19.599 sons and daughters and knew the Glucert family. Mount Prospect 53 00:03:19.759 --> 00:03:22.360 was and still is, to some degree, a small town 54 00:03:22.400 --> 00:03:25.400 in the suburbs of Chicago. It's a town where people 55 00:03:25.400 --> 00:03:27.319 look out for one another and the citizens have a 56 00:03:27.360 --> 00:03:31.039 good working relationship with their police department. Bob had very 57 00:03:31.080 --> 00:03:33.719 positive things to say about the detectives who worked Barbara's 58 00:03:33.719 --> 00:03:36.759 case and the family's relationship with law enforcement and Mount 59 00:03:36.800 --> 00:03:39.879 Prospect speaks volumes about the caliber of the department they 60 00:03:39.919 --> 00:03:40.319 have there. 61 00:03:41.159 --> 00:03:43.719 Retired Detective Mike Nelson was gracious enough to sit down 62 00:03:43.719 --> 00:03:46.080 with me a few months ago to discuss Karen's case 63 00:03:46.240 --> 00:03:49.439 and Barbara's case. We never aired any of our interviews 64 00:03:49.479 --> 00:03:52.080 with him because Karen's case went in a totally different direction, 65 00:03:52.919 --> 00:03:55.400 but back then, Detective Nelson was talking to us about 66 00:03:55.439 --> 00:03:58.199 both cases, and he's a fountain of knowledge when it 67 00:03:58.199 --> 00:04:01.360 comes to Barbara's case. So we want to use this 68 00:04:01.439 --> 00:04:04.439 platform to help highlight that case and continue to discuss 69 00:04:04.479 --> 00:04:06.960 cold cases in Elgin here in the nineteen seventies. 70 00:04:11.759 --> 00:04:14.439 Mike Nelson became a police officer in nineteen eighty eight. 71 00:04:14.719 --> 00:04:16.199 He spent over a year and a half with the 72 00:04:16.199 --> 00:04:19.680 Woodstock Police Department, then joined the Mount Prospect Police Department 73 00:04:19.759 --> 00:04:22.720 in the town where he lived his entire life. During 74 00:04:22.759 --> 00:04:25.399 its thirty year career, Mike was a patrol officer, a 75 00:04:25.439 --> 00:04:28.240 member of the Gang and Tech unit, a detective, and 76 00:04:28.279 --> 00:04:32.079 even a school resource officer. Mike retired in twenty eighteen, 77 00:04:32.160 --> 00:04:34.160 but came back as a civilian to help the police 78 00:04:34.160 --> 00:04:37.399 department as a management analyst until twenty twenty two, when 79 00:04:37.439 --> 00:04:40.360 he finally retired for good. The officers that Andrew and 80 00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:42.879 I have talked to about Mike speak very highly of him. 81 00:04:43.480 --> 00:04:46.160 They describe him as a dedicated officer who spent countless 82 00:04:46.199 --> 00:04:49.120 hours working for his community. And if you ask anyone 83 00:04:49.160 --> 00:04:52.399 in Mount Prospect about Barbara Lucre's case, they will immediately 84 00:04:52.399 --> 00:04:54.160 tell you that you need to talk to Mike Nelson. 85 00:04:55.839 --> 00:04:57.959 Chris and I both want to say that Detective Nelson's 86 00:04:57.959 --> 00:05:00.560 relationship with the Gluecritt family is the type of relationship 87 00:05:00.600 --> 00:05:02.519 that we think is crucial in these types of cases. 88 00:05:03.759 --> 00:05:06.000 The family knows that he cares about them and cares 89 00:05:06.040 --> 00:05:08.319 about the case, and he has included them in everything 90 00:05:08.319 --> 00:05:10.720 that he has done. The way in which he carries 91 00:05:10.800 --> 00:05:13.079 himself not only as an investigator, but also as a 92 00:05:13.160 --> 00:05:16.040 human being is something that all investigators should strive for. 93 00:05:17.240 --> 00:05:20.399 His suggestions to Matt and I in Season one for maps, 94 00:05:20.560 --> 00:05:23.959 lighting conditions, and other investigative thoughts on Karen's case were 95 00:05:23.959 --> 00:05:27.680 deeply impactful and deeply helpful for us, and his perspective 96 00:05:27.680 --> 00:05:30.000 on working cold cases for decades is something that's really 97 00:05:30.040 --> 00:05:32.720 valuable to us and any other investigator that's about to 98 00:05:32.759 --> 00:05:36.839 embark on a cold case investigation. Here's Detective Nelson introducing 99 00:05:36.920 --> 00:05:39.279 himself to yourself. 100 00:05:39.399 --> 00:05:42.120 Oh yeah, I'm a retired police officer from more Prospect, 101 00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:46.079 a Police department, and one of the cold cases that 102 00:05:46.120 --> 00:05:49.240 I worked with the Barbara Lucker case. She disappeared from 103 00:05:49.240 --> 00:05:53.079 our town on August twenty first, nineteen seventy six. 104 00:05:53.720 --> 00:05:55.759 And I'll do the best they can just to give 105 00:05:55.759 --> 00:05:58.120 a brief synopsis of what happened. 106 00:06:00.560 --> 00:06:05.399 So Barbara was walking from her home to Saint Raymond's Church, 107 00:06:06.079 --> 00:06:09.120 which is you know, it's in downtown my Prospect, and 108 00:06:09.160 --> 00:06:13.079 that was she actually went to Saint Raymonds. But you know, 109 00:06:13.240 --> 00:06:16.279 Saturday afternoon church was kind of like a lot of 110 00:06:16.360 --> 00:06:22.199 us teenagers or whatever at fourteen, you know, we would 111 00:06:22.199 --> 00:06:26.399 go to this Saturday Saturday afternoon you know, churches, so 112 00:06:26.439 --> 00:06:27.959 we could get on the way just to. 113 00:06:29.480 --> 00:06:32.120 Just to cover the fact that I went to school. 114 00:06:31.800 --> 00:06:36.120 With her, Like Detective Nelson said, he actually grew up 115 00:06:36.120 --> 00:06:38.720 with Barbara, so this case was really personal for him. 116 00:06:39.399 --> 00:06:41.839 They went to school together and attended church together. And 117 00:06:41.879 --> 00:06:43.920 so when he got the opportunity years later to work 118 00:06:43.920 --> 00:06:46.279 on her case as a detective, he jumped at the 119 00:06:46.279 --> 00:06:48.759 opportunity to try to bring his childhood friend home. 120 00:06:49.720 --> 00:06:52.000 And a lot like Karen, you look at these missing 121 00:06:52.040 --> 00:06:54.240 person cases and they just have a huge impact on 122 00:06:54.279 --> 00:06:58.120 all sorts of people. The impact everyone's lives, the impact 123 00:06:58.160 --> 00:07:01.120 the family obviously, but all the friends and other people 124 00:07:01.160 --> 00:07:03.839 in the community, and even the officers who worked these cases. 125 00:07:05.040 --> 00:07:07.680 Next, Detective Nelson walked us through what happened to Barbara 126 00:07:07.680 --> 00:07:10.319 that Saturday evening in August of nineteen seventy six. 127 00:07:11.399 --> 00:07:17.399 So, so, on her way to church, she gets approached by. 128 00:07:19.040 --> 00:07:22.480 A person who identifies himself as Tom Edwards. 129 00:07:23.240 --> 00:07:26.600 He's driving a you know, a big brown sit in 130 00:07:27.560 --> 00:07:30.560 and he asks her if she wanted to go to 131 00:07:30.600 --> 00:07:33.600 a party in Displains later tonight, and if she did 132 00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:35.759 want to go, maybe if he could have her number 133 00:07:35.879 --> 00:07:37.920 and call her later where maybe they could beat up. 134 00:07:39.000 --> 00:07:43.240 So Barbara ends up giving her her home telephone number 135 00:07:43.279 --> 00:07:48.040 and goes to church. So anyway, she stops at at 136 00:07:48.399 --> 00:07:50.600 one of her friend's house and there were like three 137 00:07:50.639 --> 00:07:53.519 other girlfriends that were there, and Barbara tells them the 138 00:07:53.519 --> 00:07:55.800 story is, Hey, you know this guy, you guys want 139 00:07:55.800 --> 00:07:56.160 to go to. 140 00:07:56.120 --> 00:07:57.959 A party you know with me tonight? 141 00:07:58.600 --> 00:08:00.839 I met this guy in Wade Church and he said 142 00:08:00.839 --> 00:08:03.519 to was a party in Displains And they're like, you know, Barbie, 143 00:08:04.079 --> 00:08:05.279 just some strange guy in a car. 144 00:08:05.319 --> 00:08:07.959 You can't you can't go to a party with guy. No, 145 00:08:08.040 --> 00:08:11.560 we're not interested in going at all. So Barbara's like okay. 146 00:08:11.680 --> 00:08:15.279 So she starts to walk home, and on her way 147 00:08:15.839 --> 00:08:17.560 she stops at another friend's house. 148 00:08:18.639 --> 00:08:21.839 She tells the same story. Hey, you know, do you 149 00:08:21.839 --> 00:08:23.480 you know you want to go to a party tonight? 150 00:08:23.519 --> 00:08:24.000 You know with me? 151 00:08:24.240 --> 00:08:25.879 I met some guy and he says there's a party 152 00:08:25.879 --> 00:08:27.480 in Displaines and she's like. 153 00:08:27.439 --> 00:08:30.600 Oh, yeah, sure, that's detecting. Nelson went on to tell 154 00:08:30.639 --> 00:08:32.559 us that Tom called these girls on the phone and 155 00:08:32.559 --> 00:08:34.080 they agreed to meet him in the parking lot of 156 00:08:34.120 --> 00:08:37.399 a pizza place nearby. Tom also told him about a 157 00:08:37.399 --> 00:08:39.120 concert out in Huntley, and he said they could go 158 00:08:39.200 --> 00:08:40.519 do that and said if they wanted to. 159 00:08:41.320 --> 00:08:43.559 Probably at seven thirty. You know, the girls are waiting 160 00:08:43.559 --> 00:08:45.639 in the parking lot. He pulls up and you know, 161 00:08:45.679 --> 00:08:48.639 in the brown car, and they you know, they they 162 00:08:48.679 --> 00:08:53.279 get in the car and they sit in the front 163 00:08:53.279 --> 00:08:56.399 seat and off they go. So he says, hey, did 164 00:08:56.440 --> 00:08:58.639 you want to go to this party Displains or the 165 00:08:58.679 --> 00:09:00.639 concert out in Dundee, And so they decided to go 166 00:09:00.720 --> 00:09:05.159 to the concert and Dundee, Well, he drives roughly a 167 00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:07.840 mile off, stops at the Central and Bussy Roads and 168 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:09.840 goes into a. 169 00:09:09.519 --> 00:09:11.480 You know, like a quick bar, like seven to eleven there. 170 00:09:12.360 --> 00:09:13.799 I think it was a seven eleven. 171 00:09:13.840 --> 00:09:16.120 It might have been Southland Liquors at the time, and 172 00:09:16.399 --> 00:09:19.159 picks up a couple of six packs of six. 173 00:09:18.960 --> 00:09:22.200 Packs of miicchelo and it gets back in the car 174 00:09:22.240 --> 00:09:22.960 and off they drive. 175 00:09:24.639 --> 00:09:27.639 Years later, Mike had the opportunity to interview Barbara's friends 176 00:09:27.639 --> 00:09:29.799 from that night. We're not going to name her in 177 00:09:29.840 --> 00:09:32.480 this podcast because we want to respect her privacy and 178 00:09:32.519 --> 00:09:35.080 because she, like Barbara, was just a young teenage girl 179 00:09:35.320 --> 00:09:37.120 who wanted to go out to a concert that night 180 00:09:37.159 --> 00:09:39.679 with a friend. Here's what Mike had to say. 181 00:09:40.440 --> 00:09:42.440 She's not sure. She thinks they were on the toll way, 182 00:09:42.720 --> 00:09:43.720 you know, to go out there. 183 00:09:44.600 --> 00:09:48.039 And she said, yeah, it was around nine thirty or so, 184 00:09:48.120 --> 00:09:49.960 maybe close at ten o'clock by the time they got out. 185 00:09:50.120 --> 00:09:51.919 She goes, I don't know what road we got off 186 00:09:51.919 --> 00:09:53.720 of back then, but. 187 00:09:55.320 --> 00:09:57.919 As soon as we got off the tollway, he you know, 188 00:09:58.039 --> 00:09:59.600 he had offered us the marijuana. 189 00:09:59.639 --> 00:10:00.720 We were drinking a beer. 190 00:10:01.000 --> 00:10:03.080 He'd reach under the seat and pulled out like a 191 00:10:03.120 --> 00:10:07.200 couple of pills and gave one to you know, to 192 00:10:07.320 --> 00:10:09.120 Barbara and I, but you know, we were afraid to 193 00:10:09.159 --> 00:10:12.120 take them, so we just sort of palm these pills 194 00:10:12.120 --> 00:10:14.279 in between our hands and the bottles, you know, just 195 00:10:14.320 --> 00:10:17.000 to kind of hide them, you know, but we didn't 196 00:10:17.039 --> 00:10:20.919 take them. So ten minutes after getting off the tollway, 197 00:10:21.200 --> 00:10:24.120 they drove down, you know, a road, and all of 198 00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:26.279 a sudden there was this concert. 199 00:10:26.320 --> 00:10:27.399 There were hundreds of. 200 00:10:27.320 --> 00:10:32.000 People there, and so it's like a farm. Yeah, it 201 00:10:32.120 --> 00:10:34.440 was a Farman only just off a Krouster the road. 202 00:10:35.399 --> 00:10:38.320 I was, yeah, I'll get back to that, just to clarify, 203 00:10:39.919 --> 00:10:44.480 clarify that. But so this this concert, there were two 204 00:10:44.480 --> 00:10:46.879 bands there and it was actually put on by a 205 00:10:46.960 --> 00:10:50.120 manufacturing concern out of Crystal Lake. It was almost like 206 00:10:50.159 --> 00:10:52.679 a factory, like a you know, like a corporate party, 207 00:10:52.720 --> 00:10:58.000 and you know, so people everywhere and the girls, barb. 208 00:10:58.600 --> 00:11:01.000 Was kind of interested and just kind of go and uh, 209 00:11:02.039 --> 00:11:03.519 you know, listening to music. 210 00:11:03.519 --> 00:11:06.840 But they wanted to get away from, you know, this 211 00:11:07.759 --> 00:11:11.200 Tom guy. They were just kind of creeped out by him. 212 00:11:11.559 --> 00:11:15.240 So they went off to the concert area and they 213 00:11:15.240 --> 00:11:16.039 got separated. 214 00:11:16.919 --> 00:11:19.960 Detective Nelson detailed that the party was basically packed with people. 215 00:11:20.519 --> 00:11:22.799 There was a big barn in a field with the stage. 216 00:11:23.240 --> 00:11:25.759 Two different bands were slated to play, and cars were 217 00:11:25.759 --> 00:11:27.639 parked up and down the road with a few hundred 218 00:11:27.639 --> 00:11:30.480 people and joined the late summer weather in some live music. 219 00:11:31.399 --> 00:11:34.320 Tom reportedly stayed with the car, possibly to sell drugs 220 00:11:34.360 --> 00:11:37.919 to concert goers. Numerous people saw him there, and police 221 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:40.600 later learned that this car was a brown nineteen seventy 222 00:11:40.600 --> 00:11:42.360 Buick Electra two two five. 223 00:11:43.120 --> 00:11:46.080 According to media reports from nineteen seventy six, the two 224 00:11:46.080 --> 00:11:48.639 bands that were playing were Blind Billy Nelson and the 225 00:11:48.639 --> 00:11:52.200 Cold Winds blues Band, followed by the Bloody Marys, who 226 00:11:52.240 --> 00:11:54.559 played on that farm stage late into the night. It 227 00:11:54.600 --> 00:11:57.320 was well above seventy degrees even into the evening hours, 228 00:11:57.559 --> 00:11:59.559 and the crowd stayed and sang and danced on what 229 00:11:59.559 --> 00:12:02.000 should have just been another night in roal King County. 230 00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:06.200 As the concert went on, Barbara's friend eventually came back 231 00:12:06.240 --> 00:12:08.240 near Tom's car with the boy that she had met 232 00:12:08.279 --> 00:12:11.120 inside the concert. Barbara's friend and the boy went to 233 00:12:11.159 --> 00:12:13.120 this boy's car, and so Tom went over to the 234 00:12:13.159 --> 00:12:15.399 car to talk to her and the boy. That's when 235 00:12:15.440 --> 00:12:25.679 Tom basically found his opportunity to get Barbara alone. 236 00:12:26.759 --> 00:12:29.159 Tom approached Barbara's friend and the boy she was with, 237 00:12:29.519 --> 00:12:32.320 and when she asked Tom where Barbara was, Tom lied 238 00:12:32.360 --> 00:12:34.840 to her. He told her Barbara had already left with 239 00:12:34.879 --> 00:12:38.320 somebody else. At that point, Barbara's friend told Tom that 240 00:12:38.399 --> 00:12:40.360 she was not going with him, she was going to 241 00:12:40.440 --> 00:12:42.639 leave with this other friend. She hopped in the car 242 00:12:42.720 --> 00:12:45.639 and left, assuming that Barbara had already done the same thing. 243 00:12:46.559 --> 00:12:48.759 I think it's important to remind people that it was 244 00:12:48.879 --> 00:12:52.440 not Barbara's friend's fault that this happened. Tom, by them, 245 00:12:52.480 --> 00:12:54.639 was a twenty four year old man who lied to 246 00:12:54.679 --> 00:12:57.200 a young girl so that he could get her friend alone. 247 00:12:57.320 --> 00:12:59.080 They were just two young girls who wanted to go 248 00:12:59.120 --> 00:13:01.000 out and listen to some live music a few days 249 00:13:01.039 --> 00:13:05.679 before childhood ended and high school began. But for Barbara, 250 00:13:05.960 --> 00:13:08.120 she would never get that opportunity to start a freshman 251 00:13:08.200 --> 00:13:09.919 year at Prospect High School. 252 00:13:11.679 --> 00:13:14.080 Shortly after her friend left, Barbara came out of the 253 00:13:14.120 --> 00:13:16.879 crowd looking for her, but by then she was already 254 00:13:16.879 --> 00:13:19.799 gone and the only person left was Thomas or Lacker. 255 00:13:20.559 --> 00:13:26.720 About a half hour later, witnesses that were there say 256 00:13:26.759 --> 00:13:29.000 that Barbara comes walking down of the crowd, and she 257 00:13:29.120 --> 00:13:32.159 tells Tom, listen, I gotta go home. I gotta curfew, 258 00:13:32.159 --> 00:13:33.679 and I got to go home. And it's eleven thirty 259 00:13:33.679 --> 00:13:35.080 at night, and you're not making it back to my 260 00:13:35.279 --> 00:13:38.720 Prospect until you know, it's at least from there, it's 261 00:13:38.799 --> 00:13:41.759 by at least an hour, you know, at least. 262 00:13:41.840 --> 00:13:43.840 So I gotta go home. I gotta go home right now. 263 00:13:44.399 --> 00:13:47.080 So she gets in the car, Tom gets in the 264 00:13:47.120 --> 00:13:47.759 driver's seat. 265 00:13:47.919 --> 00:13:51.480 He backs up on the Kreutzer Road, drives off towards 266 00:13:51.559 --> 00:13:54.480 Hamley Road. No one ever sees her again. 267 00:13:54.879 --> 00:13:55.360 That's it. 268 00:13:56.879 --> 00:13:59.320 At the time, the police only had an alias of 269 00:13:59.360 --> 00:14:02.720 Thomas at to work with, but the Mount Prospect detectors 270 00:14:02.720 --> 00:14:05.559 were really good at their jobs. They quickly identified Tom 271 00:14:05.639 --> 00:14:08.480 Edwards as Thomas Erlacker, and they began to piece together 272 00:14:08.559 --> 00:14:10.639 not only Saturday night, but the next few days of 273 00:14:10.639 --> 00:14:11.320 his whereabouts. 274 00:14:12.159 --> 00:14:13.919 Police have an idea of a few places he may 275 00:14:13.919 --> 00:14:16.440 have gone, and know several places that he had access to. 276 00:14:16.919 --> 00:14:20.120 But it seems like Erlacker killed Barbara disposed of her 277 00:14:20.159 --> 00:14:24.039 body sometime between late Saturday night and sometime on Monday afternoon. 278 00:14:24.320 --> 00:14:25.039 And here's why. 279 00:14:25.879 --> 00:14:34.399 On Monday, his sister wanted to Buick back, so he said, okay. 280 00:14:35.039 --> 00:14:37.559 So he stops at the Bwick dealership and I can't 281 00:14:37.559 --> 00:14:40.159 recall the name of the duo dealership, but he stops 282 00:14:40.159 --> 00:14:44.440 the Buick dealership in Elgin and has the trunk lock repaired. 283 00:14:45.279 --> 00:14:47.600 So I have a receipt for the repair or whatever that's. 284 00:14:47.399 --> 00:14:51.480 In evidence, and he takes the car back to his 285 00:14:51.600 --> 00:14:54.679 sister and kind of lose track of him. Then a 286 00:14:54.679 --> 00:15:03.840 little bit now in the police reports, Verlocker shows up 287 00:15:04.039 --> 00:15:08.519 at Chicago Sand and Gravel on twenty five. Now I 288 00:15:08.519 --> 00:15:11.279 think it was then it became Bluff City, I think, 289 00:15:11.399 --> 00:15:14.360 and I don't know what it is now, but he 290 00:15:14.399 --> 00:15:18.279 makes an appearance Tuesday night Tuesday evening where he buys 291 00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:23.159 a Suzuki two point fifty two stroke motorcycle and a 292 00:15:23.240 --> 00:15:24.240 union jack helmet. 293 00:15:25.360 --> 00:15:27.639 Thomas Erlacker was then seen several more times in the 294 00:15:27.639 --> 00:15:31.519 Elgin area on Wednesday and Thursday. In an odd coincidence, 295 00:15:31.559 --> 00:15:33.679 He then took off on his new motorcycle and drove 296 00:15:33.720 --> 00:15:36.200 west to the same city where Karen Schepers was born, 297 00:15:36.559 --> 00:15:41.039 San Francisco, California. Erlacer rented an apartment using the name 298 00:15:41.080 --> 00:15:43.120 and identification from a wallet that he found in a 299 00:15:43.159 --> 00:15:46.039 parking lot and elgend in nineteen seventy five, and he 300 00:15:46.080 --> 00:15:48.519 started a new life with a new name in a 301 00:15:48.559 --> 00:15:52.200 new city. I should add that, according to Detective Nelson, 302 00:15:52.559 --> 00:15:55.600 on Wednesday night before he left, a witness saw Erlacker 303 00:15:55.639 --> 00:15:57.799 and noticed that he had a rash on his shins. 304 00:15:58.320 --> 00:16:01.000 I think the general speculation is that Erlacer was walking 305 00:16:01.000 --> 00:16:03.320 through some poison ivy or poison oak or something like 306 00:16:03.320 --> 00:16:06.240 that sometime between Saturday night and Wednesday when he saw 307 00:16:06.240 --> 00:16:10.480 the witness. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, rashes 308 00:16:10.480 --> 00:16:13.759 from poison ivy and other similar plants typically appear between 309 00:16:13.799 --> 00:16:16.799 four to forty eight hours after exposure. So it's just 310 00:16:16.840 --> 00:16:19.240 one more piece of information that could be important, and 311 00:16:19.279 --> 00:16:22.200 it points again towards him potentially disposing of Barbara's body 312 00:16:22.240 --> 00:16:23.240 in some rural area. 313 00:16:25.240 --> 00:16:28.879 Yes back in Illinois, Mount Prospect Police had identified Thomas 314 00:16:29.000 --> 00:16:32.679 Arlacer as the suspect in Barbara's disappearance, and they started 315 00:16:32.679 --> 00:16:37.440 interviewing people while looking for Erlacer. Ultimately, they issued an 316 00:16:37.480 --> 00:16:39.799 arresta warrant for him with the charge of contributing to 317 00:16:39.840 --> 00:16:43.279 the delinquency of a minor for providing alcohol and attempting 318 00:16:43.279 --> 00:16:46.679 to provide drugs to Barbara and her friend, and several 319 00:16:46.679 --> 00:16:49.799 months had passed with no signs of Barbara or Thomas Urlacker. 320 00:16:50.480 --> 00:16:52.519 Then things got a little strange. 321 00:16:53.159 --> 00:16:57.440 Just before Christmas in nineteen seventy six, one of the 322 00:16:57.480 --> 00:17:02.320 tenants of the apartment building named Vincent, had noticed that 323 00:17:02.360 --> 00:17:04.680 Tom seemed to be writing something. Seeing you're writing a 324 00:17:04.759 --> 00:17:10.559 letter in his apartment, obviously, didn't really think anything of it. 325 00:17:11.400 --> 00:17:16.400 A couple nights later, there were even when Erlocker was 326 00:17:16.440 --> 00:17:22.079 walking back from work, he saw a couple of uniform 327 00:17:22.160 --> 00:17:24.000 he got a couple of Mark Squad cars out in 328 00:17:24.039 --> 00:17:25.839 front of the apartment building, and he was afraid that 329 00:17:25.880 --> 00:17:29.519 maybe they were there for him. So he called Vince 330 00:17:29.559 --> 00:17:32.920 on the phone and asked him to go into my 331 00:17:33.000 --> 00:17:36.319 room and then go into the closet. In the closet, 332 00:17:36.359 --> 00:17:38.839 there's an orange crate. Inside the orange crate is a 333 00:17:38.920 --> 00:17:42.279 letter that I've addressed to a friend of mine. 334 00:17:43.160 --> 00:17:45.000 Take it and burn it. 335 00:17:46.240 --> 00:17:50.799 And so Vincent goes into Irlocer's apartment, goes into his bedroom, 336 00:17:52.039 --> 00:17:54.799 goes into the closet, sees the orange crate, sees the letter, 337 00:17:54.920 --> 00:17:56.759 takes it, but he keeps it. 338 00:17:56.839 --> 00:18:01.000 He doesn't burn it this guy. Vince ended up reading 339 00:18:01.079 --> 00:18:03.519 Erlacker's letter a few days later, and the things he'd 340 00:18:03.519 --> 00:18:05.400 read in the letter frightened him enough that he got 341 00:18:05.480 --> 00:18:07.119 up in the middle of the night and went to 342 00:18:07.160 --> 00:18:09.720 a police station in San Francisco, where he turned over 343 00:18:09.759 --> 00:18:12.640 the letter to the police. We have a copy of 344 00:18:12.680 --> 00:18:15.359 that full letter that Erlacker wrote, and it's over thirty 345 00:18:15.400 --> 00:18:18.720 pages long. In the letter, Erlacker detailed that he was 346 00:18:18.720 --> 00:18:21.079 in trouble because he had picked up a girl one night, 347 00:18:21.680 --> 00:18:24.480 and twenty six pages into that letter, he wrote this. 348 00:18:25.640 --> 00:18:27.720 I put that girl in the ground because I was 349 00:18:27.759 --> 00:18:29.880 afraid she was going to tell the law. I made 350 00:18:29.880 --> 00:18:32.359 her get me off and I didn't want to go 351 00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:35.759 to jail for that. But now I'm going to jail 352 00:18:35.759 --> 00:18:38.759 for murder. But I don't know why I did that. 353 00:18:40.759 --> 00:18:42.880 I guess it was paranoia that made me do it. 354 00:18:45.400 --> 00:18:49.200 I'm sorry I did it, but I'll pay for my 355 00:18:49.319 --> 00:18:51.519 penalty when I'm found. 356 00:18:52.200 --> 00:18:53.759 You know, Chris, One thing that always stuck in my 357 00:18:53.799 --> 00:18:56.200 mind about the statement is that Erlacker doesn't refer to 358 00:18:56.240 --> 00:18:59.759 Barbara by her name. He basically dehumanizes her and he 359 00:18:59.839 --> 00:19:01.480 just call her quote that girl. 360 00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:05.039 Yeah, he never gives her the honor of calling her 361 00:19:05.039 --> 00:19:08.000 by her name, which is awful. She had a name, 362 00:19:08.640 --> 00:19:12.119 a family, friends, but he clearly didn't see her that way. 363 00:19:12.920 --> 00:19:15.559 Rlacer also wrote in the letter that it was his confession, 364 00:19:15.960 --> 00:19:18.000 and he asked the recipient not to turn him in 365 00:19:18.079 --> 00:19:19.960 yet because he was just trying to get some money 366 00:19:20.039 --> 00:19:23.200 together before he surrendered to the police. This is how 367 00:19:23.240 --> 00:19:24.440 Irlaker ended that letter. 368 00:19:25.359 --> 00:19:28.599 I send my love and the truth about the whole me, 369 00:19:29.839 --> 00:19:34.720 Tom Irlacer the end. What will happen now? 370 00:19:36.119 --> 00:19:38.319 As you can imagine, the police in San Francisco were 371 00:19:38.319 --> 00:19:41.599 both extremely interested but also extremely confused by this letter. 372 00:19:42.119 --> 00:19:43.920 I mean, the guy that turned it in had no 373 00:19:43.960 --> 00:19:47.119 clue who Tom Irlacker even was. He knew Tom under 374 00:19:47.160 --> 00:19:50.039 a totally different name, and no one in California had 375 00:19:50.039 --> 00:19:53.000 any idea what concert or girl this guy was talking 376 00:19:53.039 --> 00:19:56.279 about in the letter. Here's Detective Nelson detailing a little 377 00:19:56.279 --> 00:19:58.319 bit more about the letter and what police did with 378 00:19:58.359 --> 00:19:58.880 it back then. 379 00:20:00.079 --> 00:20:03.240 The way the letter was addressed. It was crudely addressed 380 00:20:04.319 --> 00:20:07.519 just to his friend and then just wasco Illinois. It 381 00:20:09.119 --> 00:20:11.359 was no actual street address or anything like that, and 382 00:20:11.400 --> 00:20:13.359 the detectives really didn't have much to go on so 383 00:20:14.160 --> 00:20:16.440 they went through a Rand McNelly map saw that Wasscoll 384 00:20:16.480 --> 00:20:19.400 Illinois was in Kane County. They called Kane County and 385 00:20:19.480 --> 00:20:21.839 asked them does this make any sense that a guy 386 00:20:21.880 --> 00:20:24.119 named Tom Burlocker had picked up girl and went to 387 00:20:24.160 --> 00:20:26.559 the concert and Kane County. 388 00:20:26.599 --> 00:20:28.319 They said absolutely, that makes sense to us. 389 00:20:28.720 --> 00:20:32.119 So on Kane County they gave that information to the 390 00:20:32.160 --> 00:20:34.279 Texas and San Francisco. They verified that there was a 391 00:20:34.319 --> 00:20:36.880 warren out for him, and our department said, yeah, go 392 00:20:36.920 --> 00:20:39.319 and go and get him. So they went over to 393 00:20:39.359 --> 00:20:42.799 the apartment the following day and knocked on the door 394 00:20:42.839 --> 00:20:44.400 and he answered the door. They asked him, Hey, is 395 00:20:44.400 --> 00:20:46.960 your name Tom Baron Locker. He said yes. He told 396 00:20:47.039 --> 00:20:47.480 him they had a. 397 00:20:47.480 --> 00:20:50.000 Warren out for him, and the arrested him. 398 00:20:50.519 --> 00:20:52.720 Our department went out there, picked him up and brought 399 00:20:52.799 --> 00:20:55.599 him back to our department where he was interviewed. And 400 00:20:58.079 --> 00:21:01.799 the State's attorney decided in early seventy seven to not 401 00:21:01.880 --> 00:21:07.319