Murder of Tammy Zywicki
Somewhere around mile marker 83, near a little town called North Utica, a white Pontiac has pulled onto the shoulder.
It's a 1985 Pontiac T1000 with New Jersey plates. And behind the wheel is a Twenty-one-year-old named Tammy. If everything had gone according to plan, Tammy should have been about five hours from finishing a fifteen-hundred-mile drive, from her family's home in New Jersey out to her college in Iowa.
Somewhere between three-ten and four o'clock that afternoon, more than one driver passing by on I-80 remembers seeing a young woman standing near her disabled car. And parked close by was a tractor-trailer with a faded orange stripe running down the side. The driver was later described consistently: a white man, somewhere between thirty-five and forty, over six feet tall, with dark, bushy hair.
That is the last confirmed sighting of Tammy Zywicki alive.
-
A&E Television Networks. “Who Killed College Student Tammy Zywicki?” A&E Real Crime, www.aetv.com/articles/tammy-zywicki-murder
Boyd, Tamia. “Mystery Remains as Eastside High School Graduate Tammy Zywicki's Death Is Unsolved 30 Years Later.” The Greenville News, 23 Aug. 2022, www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/local/2022/08/23/tammy-zywicki-eastside-high-school-death-unsolved-30-years-later/10333205002/
Cromer, Brookley. “Eastside High Honors Slain Grad Tammy Zywicki; New DNA Evidence in Cold Case.” FOX Carolina, 24 Apr. 2026, www.foxcarolina.com/2026/04/25/high-school-greenville-co-honor-slain-graduate-with-memorial-soccer-game/
Ewing, Jody. “The Tammy Jo Zywicki Murder.” Iowa Cold Cases, 31 Jan. 2011, iowacoldcases.org/case-summaries/tammy-zywicki/
Federal Bureau of Investigation. “Tammy J. Zywicki.” FBI, www.fbi.gov/wanted/seeking-info/tammy-j.-zywicki
Figliuzzi, Frank. Long Haul: Hunting the Highway Serial Killers. Mariner Books, 2025.
Glover, Scott. “FBI Database Links Long-Haul Truckers, Serial Killings.” Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2009, www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-me-serialkillers5-2009apr05-story.html
Illinois State Police. “Illinois State Police Seeks Public Assistance on Anniversary of Tammy Zywicki Murder.” ISP Investigative Tips, 23 Aug. 2026, isptips.illinois.gov/investigations/20260823-tammy-zywicki.html
“Memorial Ride for Tammy Zywicki.” WYFF4, 9 Sept. 2022, www.wyff4.com/article/memorial-ride-for-tammy-zywicki/41137145
“More than 30 Years On, Hope Endures in Tammy Zywicki's Unsolved Murder.” Shaw Local News Network, 26 Aug. 2025, www.shawlocal.com/illinois-valley/2025/08/26/more-than-30-years-on-hope-endures-in-tammy-zywickis-unsolved-murder/
Parker, Mike. “The Unsolved Tammy Zywicki Case: ‘Murder Is Forever,’ Says Former Investigator.” CBS News Chicago, cbsnews.com/chicago/news/the-unsolved-tammy-zywicki-case-murder-is-forever-says-former-investigator
“Tammy Zywicki Slaying Still Unsolved, 30 Years Later.” Patch, 26 Aug. 2022, patch.com/illinois/across-il/tammy-zywicki-slaying-still-unsolved-30-years-later
Riddle, Lyn. “New Leads Considered in Murder of Eastside High Grad Tammy Zywicki.” The Greenville News, 21 Jan. 2015, www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/local/2015/01/21/new-leads-considered-murder-eastside-high-grad-tammy-zywicki/22125493/
“76-Year-Old Mother Continues to Fight for Justice for Daughter Killed 27 Years Ago.” Dateline NBC, NBC News, 1 Sept. 2019, www.nbcnews.com/dateline/76-year-old-mother-continues-fight-justice-daughter-killed-27-n1048341
Suhr, Jim. “Mystery Lingers 20 Years after Co-Ed's Killing.” Associated Press, 29 July 2012, nwitimes.com/news/local/illinois/mystery-lingers-20-years-after-co-eds-killing/article_03841cf1-d054-5bc1-9ead-efbf1c13e4bf.html
“Who Killed Tammy Zywicki? Over 30 Years, Zero Answers.” CBS News Chicago, 21 Aug. 2023, www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/who-killed-tammy-zywicki/
Ward, Morgan. “29 Years since Grinnell College Student Tammy Zywicki Was Murdered.” KGAN CBS 2 Iowa, 23 Aug. 2021, cbs2iowa.com/news/local/39-years-since-grinnell-college-student-tammy-zywicki-was-murdered