Robin Abrams /// Part 2 /// 885 | Forensic Files

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some true crime. [music] [music] >> [music] >> With Robin Abrams missing for an extended period of time, her lawsuit was
dismissed. This takes place, Captain, on January 9th, 1991. That's quite convenient for several
folks who we have already mentioned in this story thus far. And here's a quote. quote, "Marquez," meaning Tony Marquez,
was an auxiliary officer at the time, but he was best friends with Will County Sheriff John Johnson, who was also my
sister's boss, and he was running for reelection, and she had a lawsuit against them at the time." End quote.
This was from Robin's Abrams sister, Jodie Walsh, as she told it to the Joliet Patch. Fishy as hell, right? Yep.
>> Fishy as can be. So, let's get back to the investigation here. As we said in our first part, Sheriff Johnson handed
the case over to the ISP, to Illinois State Police. This was after the Will County States attorney advised him to do
so. there was just too much of a conflict. Although the sheriff denied that, saying that he had relinquished
the case because quote several police jurisdictions were involved. End quote. The ISP investigation placed Robin at a
gas station on the afternoon that she vanished, and that gas station was near the office of Tony Marquez. But that was
about it. They had no idea where Robin had gone. By October 18th, the Illinois State Police admitted that they were
stumped. Captain Ed Wolf of the ISP told the Southtown Star, "We simply have no good
clues as to what happened to Robin." It had been hoped that running her photo in the papers would result in sightings,
but any sightings called in proved to be mistaken. The FBI had been called into the case, but it
doesn't seem that they made any headway either. That they were involved what looks kind of briefly to me here,
Captain. So, five weeks after Robin's disappearance, Captain Ed Wolf of the Illinois State Police maintained that
the case was still being actively worked by four full-time investigators and the
FBI. He denied that they were focusing on the Will County Sheriff's Department, saying, "We don't have a focus right
now, but we are not at a dead end either. We are working with what we have." He said that although the chances
were slim that Robin was still alive, stranger things have happened. >> Well, it's really sad in this case, the
eyewitness that saw the tow truck, if that individual would have just been able to get some identifying marker from
that truck, this could have changed the whole investigation. In this case, I would love to have a sitdown with that
individual because what that person witnessed is described differently at different times as this investigation
and this true crime story drags on. [clears throat] >> I would really like to hear it for my
own with my own ears. see what I can make out of it because I don't know what this story, right?
This eyewitness account is being told second, third, fourthhand sometimes and I would like to know what has been left
out and and and by who along the way. On the first anniversary of Robin's disappearance, the Chicago Tribune did
an article about the case. Remember, it's kind of at a standstill at this point, but the article described the
state police as frustrated and the Will County State's attorney's office as puzzled. Her mother, Barbara, was
interviewed for this article. She's weeping. She is clutching a photo of her missing daughter. She tells the
reporter, quote, "Not knowing if Robin is alive or dead really drives me crazy. I can't get through the night without
waking up worrying, thinking, is this a missing person's case or a fatal attraction
investigation. But even Barbara acknowledged that Robin was likely deceased by this time. She told the
Tribune, "Robin was such an intelligent girl. She made one stupid mistake. Why did she have to pay for it this way?"
But the article reported that the state police had evidence, perhaps even a witness capable of identifying a suspect
in a lineup and there had been a grand jury in the case. See, you mentioned the the tow truck and
that witness. That's my suspicion here, right? that would be the person that would make the
most sense or at least the one the person that's already mentioned in the story so far as being capable
of identifying a suspect in a lineup. We should point out here though too that the new sheriff in Will County, the the
man who took over, his name was Thomas Fitzgerald, he fired Tony Marquez in December of 1990.
>> Well, let's also point out he was a a ex auxiliary cop. So, he was essentially a
wannabe full-time cop that was making full-time cops look like shits. But maybe there's a eyewitness, like you
said, maybe the eyewitness that saw the tow truck, maybe they could identify somebody. Or maybe there was another
eyewitness that saw when Robin would have been abducted from her car. There's very little to go on for this
investigation, right? Like regardless of what you think happened or or who you think is responsible, there's not a lot
for them to follow here or at least information that's made its way to the public. And speaking of public, publicly
the investigation into Robin's disappearance stalled out. Nothing seemed to be happening, but behind the
scenes, it sounds like there might have been a lot that was going on because the
Will County prosecutors were gathering evidence against Robin's ex and a potential accomplice and trying to
make a homicide case against the two of them. Robin's disappearance was still classified as a missing person's
investigation, not a homicide. The Will County State's Attorney, Edward Burmila,
said to the Chicago Tribune, quote, "You need a body, some remains for the case to be labeled a homicide." The state
police captain, Ed Wolf, on the other hand, said the likelihood that she is alive is very remote. The grand jury
probe proceeded nonetheless with Burmila trying to obtain concrete information and tangible evidence against his two
suspects. The suspect was named Tony Marquez. No surprise there, right, Captain? And the alleged accomplice,
Tony's alleged accomplice was none other than Tony's stepbrother, John Romo. >> Douchebag number one. Douchebag number
two. 7 months after Robin vanished in 1991, this is in May of 91, the prosecutors convened a grand jury to
conduct a confidential investigation into whether these two had offed Robin. Now, we don't know what they had on
these guys. That's never been released. We do know that someone saw two men dropping off Robin's car. Maybe the
descriptions provided by that witness were consistent with both Tony Marquez and John Romo. But whatever they had, it
was enough to take a significant step in the investigation. According to the Southtown Star, quote, Illinois State
Police investigators named the ex-boyfriend and his half-brother as people of interest in the investigation.
So that's some form of progress, I guess. Tony Marquez's alibi captain for the night that Robin Abrams disappeared
was his stepbrother or as just reported by the South Star, his halfb brotherther
John Roma. >> Yeah. Once you both become suspects, that alibi doesn't hold water for
>> No. No. No. Yeah. You can't say I I couldn't have abducted her because I was busy hanging out with Romo. And then
they're like, "Yeah, but he's a suspect." >> Romo's like, "I was hanging out with
Tony. I couldn't have done anything. >> I mean, come on. Tony's a member of law enforcement.
>> Did anybody else see him? I don't think so. >> Neither man was charged with anything,
but it's clear that they were in the line of fire of this grand jury. And so, the grand jury was attempting to use
subpoena powers to require both Tony Marquez and John Romo to play ball. They issued subpoenas to require the Wonder
Twins here to one submit to in-person lineups before an unidentified witness. Again, we can surmise that this is
likely the person who saw the two men disposing of the car. Two, require these guys to submit blood and hair, head and
pubic hair samples. Three, testify before the grand jury. And they wanted Tony Marquez to be
required to submit finger and palm prints. >> Well, so maybe these two knuckleheads
somehow get a tow truck and they're the ones that towed Robin's vehicle to that location. And again, they put it in a
bad location. It did somebody try to break into this car or did they staged that? Who knows? But they put it
obviously in a bad location because then they go, "Well, Robin must have been in
a bad location and something bad happened to her." >> That's not the worst idea when you're
trying to >> cover thing up. Not the worst idea >> with this information here, though,
Captain. I've seen people openly question like, okay, if the grand jury wants wants to require these guys to
submit hairs, hair samples, testify in front of the grand jury, submit blood samples, and Tony Marquez to submit
finger and palm prints. >> Don't forget the pubes. >> Well, what? >> Give me those pubes.
>> My pubes are the same as my head hair. The [laughter] >> too much information. straight as an
arrow. People have openly speculated, well, if this is what they want to require these guys to submit,
they must have something to compare this to. What are what do they have that they
want to compare all this to? And I actually think that it it might be a whole lot of nothing. Okay. There maybe
they're they were hoping to pull some prints that match Tony Marquez's from the vehicle. Yeah, but that won't
explain anything because they had a relationship. My speculation is, hey, why we have the opportunity? Let's
collect this information. >> If we discover if we discover Robin's body, then maybe we'll find evidence
there. And now we don't have to go back to try to collect something. >> As it turns out, we park our cars in the
same garage, my friend. Because I I'm with you. I think it's like not comparing it to what we have now, but
but we might have nothing now, >> right? What we do know absolutely 100% with this case is there are items in
this case that we've not found her body, anything that may be with her body, additional crime scenes. So, let's
collect this while we can force them to do so to comply and then we keep it and we have good evidence for anything that
we might find in the future at a later date. Now, while some court documents that we reviewed made reference to
evidence found in Robin's car, ISP Captain Ed Wolf said items were found of evidentiary interest. He told the
Southtown Star that the subpoenas were intended to permit the police to follow up on these items of evidence. So, we
look, we were bashing some of the guys from the Will County Sheriff's Department. I think that that's
warranted. I think we should point out how difficult of an investigation this is for the state police and it seems
like they were doing everything they can regardless of who's responsible for what
happened to this young woman to find that person bring them to justice and close out this case.
>> Well, and what we do know is Robin was afraid. >> Correct. >> But also Robin was a officer herself.
So, if somebody did abduct her, I have no reason to believe that Robin went quietly. I think Robin probably put up
one damn good fight. The circuit judge, Rodney Leoir, was concerned about the legitimacy of
using the grand jury subpoenas to obtain physical evidence from two men who had not been technically charged or even
officially named as suspects yet publicly in the case. He said, "I don't know if subpoenas are the proper avenue
to get blood and hair samples. I want to see evidence before someone's constitutional rights against illegal
search and seizure are violated. Now, in order to obtain a search warrant for physical evidence, prosecutors would
have to show probable cause as to why the needs of the state to access the samples of Tony Marquez and to supersede
Tony Marquez and John Romo's privacy rights. But after hemming and hawing, the judge ended up approving the
subpoenas or or for the most part. Okay. So Tony Marquez and John Romo appealed the subpoenas issued by the grand jury
and the appellet court denied the subpoenas for blood samples and pulled head hairs but approved them for
everything else. So that's the pubic hair clippings and combings, clipped head hair, head hair combings,
prints and lineups. The court felt that the items, these items are already exposed to the public, right? These are
items that you could just walk behind them and and collect if they fell off of them,
>> right? So, it's not really invading their privacy rights, but they are saying that the forcible collection did
violate their fourth amendment. >> I want to point out I don't like this at all.
>> I don't like we have evidence that they were abusive at least one of the individually
somebody's putting the stepbrother with Tony. Well, you who gives [clears throat] a [ __ ] about your rights
right now? Look, here's my thought on it, though, too. It's like, you're telling me that we have to have probable
cause in order that we're not violating their rights, their constitutional rights. I'm fully on board with that
every day of the week and twice on Sundays. But we have probable cause against Tony Marquez. Another judge
approved an order of protection for Robin against this dude. >> Right. that that to me if if one of your
colleagues, another judge says, "I see that there's a threat to this woman's physical being
from this individual, and I'm signing off on an order of protection." That, my friend, is your
probable cause. >> Well, not just Robin, but protection for Robin's mother as well.
>> So, the Step Brothers took the case all the way to the Illinois Supreme Court.
The court ruled that the Illinois Constitution provided more individual privacy rights than did the US
Constitution, recognizing a zone of personal privacy. So, we found the court documents relating to this ruling in May
1991, Will County Grand Jury, the people of the state of Illinois, Appell and Crossappellant verse Tony Marquez. This
was dated October 15th, 1992. It says the appellet court found under a fourth amendment analysis that the demand for
the pubic hair samples constituted a search and seizure under the fourth amendment and that bearing probable
cause such a subpoena was unreasonable. And I could continue to read it all but let's not do that. That is exactly what
it says in short form. Okay. So Tony Marquez, Joe, John Romo won their legal battle, thus avoiding providing hair
samples and prints. Their attorney called the subpoenas a fishing expedition by the
grand jury, suggesting that they had nothing, that they had no evidence. And still we know nothing of what was found
in Robin's car other than the camera with no film in it. We learn very little is made publicly about what was found or
not found in Robin's purse. And more importantly, what exactly did the witness see and how clearly? This is a
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>> Raise them high. Raise them high. >> In the sky. >> In the sky. The Will County authorities
didn't give up, however. In 1993, a new Will County States Attorney, his name is
James Glasgow, recommended against a lineup. So, this is where we get into a lot of that back
and forth of what did the witness see, how good was their description, how clearly did they see, is there is there
a description, is there information changing over time? Well, and the tough thing too is if you call,
[clears throat] you're the eyewitness, you call about this car, you then later find out who this car is connected to
through news outlets, and then you figure out that this individual, Robin, had a lawsuit against law enforcement
officers, and it's a good possibility she's not just missing, but she's dead. that might influence how much
information you give to anybody. >> And I want to be clear here too. I know the US garage vultures are circling
heavy around this Tony Marquez. And I say rightfully so, but the lawsuit doesn't have to be the lone reason that
this woman ended up dead. Tony, if in fact he was guilty of all the harassment and the bullying that she claimed in her
lawsuit, he had some he grew to hate this woman. It could have been something as simple as their paths crossed, they
get into an argument, it turns physical, and he chokes her to death. He strangled
the poor woman. >> I think this guy is probably very abusive physically, verbally, and
mentally towards women. Here is why I kind of question about what the statements from the witness were and how
they have changed may have changed over the years, right? Because we have Will County authorities. We have the the Will
County states attorney at one time is really pushing for a grand jury and it seems like a lot of that was submitting
to a lineup to possibly being identified as one of the two men in the tow truck dropping off the vehicle, right? whether
that be Tony Marquez, John Romo, or both. But then later you have the attorney saying, "We don't want we're we're going
to say no to the lineup. We're not recommending a lineup anymore." The reason why I say that I question if this
witness's information or description of such has changed over time is I do not I
absolutely do not question that the witness saw the truck dropping off the car. Tow trucks are loud. This is a
small street. Houses are close together. Cars are parked on the street 10:00 at night on a Thursday. If somebody pulled
up a tow truck in front of my house or or adjacent to my house, I would hear it. I would look out the window. I would
see and recognize a tow truck is dropping a car. The other thing, too, I don't doubt is that somebody called in
and said, "Hey, it looks like somebody's attempting to break into this vehicle that's out here, a red Dodge Daytona
hatchback, 1989. I'm old enough to remember those vehicles. That car sticks out. That's a car that sticks out. And
in 1990, some dude walking down the street in a town that maybe has a lot of car
breakins and sees a camera inside the vehicle. That's an item of value. The person may have wanted to break into the
car to steal that and in hopes that there were other items of value inside that vehicle. Here's an idea, too. Maybe
the person walking down the street, we said the keys were found in the ignition. Door's locked, the keys in the
ignition. Maybe dude sees the keys in the ignition and goes, "I make it into that car. I can drive off with that
thing." So, I don't doubt any of that occurring. What I what I what I wonder is is the big hangup here kind of with
this witness is when the person calls in at 3:00 in the morning, this car, someone's trying to break into this car
in front of my house. Cops show up. The person attempting the break-in gone. We want to know more about this car. The
caller says, "Well, it was dropped off here at 1000 p.m. by two guys in a tow truck." When that person is making that
report, giving that statement to police, he or she, they know hide nor hair of what Tony Marquez looks like. Robin goes
missing. It's known that she's missing. She's missing for days. It turns into weeks. and he starts getting named
publicly as a person of interest. Guess what? His picture makes it to the public.
Now all of a sudden I wonder where I couldn't tell you what the guy looked like. If the witness is starting to fill
in the blanks naturally, innocently on their own, and says, "You know what? The guy I saw looked exactly like Tony
Marquez." Now, now that I think of it, now that I come to think of it, the the man had dark hair and dark complexion
and was built similar to that Tony Marquez. The There's good reason. I believe there's good reason why this attorney
decided not to pursue the photo lineup or the uh the in-person lineup, identification lineup at some point.
Well, like we've said a million times, eyewitness accounts are not that accurate unless I saw it with my own two
eyes and my own three eyes. So, of course, this is not going to help the investigation. It's not going to further
the case against Marquez, not going to further the case against Romo. the FBI and the ISP, they would continue to
investigate. But in December of 1993, Captain Sergeant Charles Kitchens or Kitchen with the ISP said, "All the
investigative leads have pretty much been exhausted. We are hoping for new leads." He admitted to the Southtown
Star that there are no new suspects that have been developed. simply meaning that
Tony Marquez and John Romo were still the only suspects it sounds like that they were looking
at. >> Yeah. And it makes you wonder about what else was going on in Robin's life
because with all this crazy stuff happening and this harassment, was there somebody else that saw
opportunity? Well, if I get rid of her, law enforcement is going to look in this
direction. And then also, not only do you have Tony, but you have the stepbrother. And then again, I keep
saying, what did his wife know? Because if his wife knew everything was true that Robin was saying, how was this
affecting Tony's business, his job with law enforcement? Was this affecting her job? How was this affecting their family
and society? Could she be a suspect? >> She could be. But I'll tell you this. Here's one thing I do know. Do you know
where tow trucks do not take cars that they pick up? They don't take them to a residential street and drop them at some
random spot. That's that's not the tow truck business, right? Who whoever those two men were have direct involvement
with her disappearance. Whether they're responsible for her murder, whether they're responsible for her abduction,
whether they're responsible for whatever happened to Robin, I can say 100% that those two men are directly
involvement involved in some form of the crimes committed against Robin Abrams. >> Well, that makes me wonder too about the
eyewitness accounts. You said it. If you could talk to this individual, you could
get better details when it's misreported and maybe not on purpose or maybe the individual's changing their changing
their story because if you're just looking out a window and you see a car being dropped off, well, was it a tow
truck or was it a regular truck that had a trailer? So, I think those details matter, but because Tony's involvement
with law enforcement, is it possible that he had access or did the stepbrother have access to a tow truck?
Again, these are a bunch of questions I would love to have the answers to. >> There's also ways to determine if a
person got inside the vehicle and manipulated the vehicle in any manner, right? Did they put it into neutral?
We know the keys were found in the ignition, but I'm one could use the hook and just just forcibly pull the vehicle
up to the the tow truck. That can be done. I I want to know if there was anything that was suggestive in the
vehicle that to that police could go. Well, we think that somebody secured it after dropping it or somebody put it
into neutral before picking it up and moving it. What we do know though, Captain, is that we're going to get a a
dig. Okay, we're we're going to have a a big search here. And this apparently is
the result of a tip. This took place in May of 1995. The police were conducting a dig at a home at a residence. And
simply put, they're digging up a basement. It was stated to the newspapers, "We're digging up this
basement looking for Robin Abrams." So they were opening up some holes in in this basement and they bringing in
cadaavver dogs. The home's basement foundation had been poured just 6 weeks before Robin Abrams went missing. But an
officer in charge, a sergeant in charge at the time said, quote, "Other things are done after a foundation is laid."
So, police had used ground penetrating radar in this basement a few months earlier and detected a their words a
variance that had characteristics inconsistent with the ground. They actually what's reported is eight
suspicious spots were detected. However, after opening up these holes, bringing in the cadaabver dogs, nothing was
found. >> But we're not privy to who this property was connected to. Well, we don't know
who was living there at the time of the dig, but it being the basement being poured just six weeks before Robin went
missing is also suggestive that nobody was living there at the time that she went missing,
>> right? >> You know, they poured they poured the basement and then build the house on
top. But what's key here is John Romo was the person that poured that basement. Well, the other question I'd
want to know about this property was there any claims made, insurance claims made from this property because like you
said, Tony had an insurance company. Yeah, he he had a insurance agency at one time. That's correct. But here's
here's the other thing that this tells me, right, John Romo? Anybody in the garage, raise your hand if you know a
person, you've encountered a person in your lifetime that has only poured one basement. [laughter]
Nobody pours just one basement in their in a lifetime. All right. Maybe my grandfather when he built his own home
back in the 50s or 60s or whenever the hell it was, >> right? >> Most people >> he probably had help by somebody that
poured more than one basement. Most people don't pour one basement in a lifetime and then and never live in the
home itself. So this guy had access to all kinds of ways of making it so that someone disappears and not just
for a little bit of time but disappears permanently for good. >> Well, but they found nothing though,
right? >> Correct. But I I'm I'm saying that this wouldn't be the only basement that
he poured. >> Oh, I get what you're I'm picking up what you're putting down now.
>> Maybe they just had the wrong house. Maybe they just I don't Again, I've never met people that I've met several
people in my lifetime, God bless them, that have have built homes, that have poured basement. None of them have ever
told me that's the only basement I ever poured. They've all built multiple homes. And some of them work for outfits
that have built dozens, if not hundreds of homes. All right, so let's let's uh move outwardly here a little bit. Let's
bring things up to speed because we have a little bit more information from 2006.
Don Abrams, poor father, whose daughter has been missing at this point for more than a decade. He speaks with the
Southtown Star about his missing daughter. Unfortunately, his wife Barbara had passed away by this time.
But the family told the publication that because the case was still classified as
a missing person's investigation and nothing was being done that they felt alienated from justice because of the
lack of progress. He said we need closure. The one of the sisters Donna said that her sister Robin had told her
if anything happens to me my ex was responsible. In 2007, Robin's sister, Jodie Walsh, gave an extensive interview
to the Southtown Star about her sister's case. She said the family was very frustrated with the way the case had
been handled. They felt that the rights of the victim and her family were secondary to the rights of whoever
committed the crime. They said that they had poor communication with the investigators and felt that they had no
outlet or resources. One of the sisters told the paper that she believed there are people who know
who killed her sister and they need to do the right thing. That's kind of what I was circling around and and
hinting at with the two men driving the tow truck. Whether those two men were Tony and John
>> or not, I think even Tony and John or whoever one or both of those guys were in that tow truck told somebody
something. Somebody out there in this one knows something. This case just it's at its core there's more than one person
involved. >> Yeah. But the problem is once Robin goes missing, anybody that has any suspicion
towards Tony, then you got to go, well, if I come forward with information, these two Yahoos can get rid of me.
>> Yeah. Yeah. That's You're right. That's incredibly frightening. >> Well, and I think that's probably
>> They were successful once, >> right? And that's probably the reason why Tony's wife never left. I mean, he
if he's if he's physically abusive towards his girlfriend, he's probably physically abusive towards his wife. And
then so even if she wanted to leave him, then well, now I got to pull the trigger
because if I leave him, I'm possibly setting in motion my own murder. It's a scary world. And what also sucks about
this Tony guy, this auxiliary cop, is that he probably wanted that position for for simply the power. And
that's scary when we we put people like that into a position of power, into a position of law enforcement. CBS News
Chicago did a lot of great work on this case and was used as a one of our primary resources as well as the other
papers and news outlets that we've cited already in the story. But I want to hone
in on something that took place in 2014. This is when they CBS News Chicago reached out to
Robin's family. They spoke with one of the sisters learning of course that the family still suspected Tony Marquez as
being responsible and from their coverage one of their reporters visited the home
of Tony Marquez who was living in south suburban Elwood at the time in 2014. You
had asked about his wife earlier. So, when this reporter approached the home, Tony's wife was the one that answered
the door. And the reporter said, quote, "You don't think he had anything to do with her disappearance?" end quote. And
the wife's answer, "I don't know. Of course not." End quote. You catch somebody offguard like that and you get
the honest answer. The honest answer from that woman, from the wife is, "I don't know." Not, "Of course not." That
was her second answer. Her secondary answer. Her real feeling in her heart is I don't know. We've heard that from
detectives several times when when you have cases similar to this one where they believe that they hone in on the
responsible party at some point, be it a week after the murder or disappearance,
two weeks after the murder or disappearance. One thing that detectives have told us consistently
is that we wish we would have had the opportunity to interview him to speak with our suspect right after he or she
went missing, right after he or she was killed, right after he or after we found
the body. We we wish we could have talked with him that night or the next morning. And in this case, the reporter
not getting the opportunity to talk to the wife until 2014 after more than two decades had passed.
>> Yeah, there's nothing more frustrating than looking into a case and sometimes a
case can be very complicated, but more more likely it's the simple answer. And in this case, I think
there's a simple answer, but we still don't have any justice. The next bit of public information about this case
emerged the following year. In the following year, this is in 2015, the Will County States Attorney's Office
told a newspaper that the case was still under review. But then the Chicago Tribune reported on a mysterious letter
that was sent recently recently. So that means 20 recent to 2015. This letter sent to a former Will County Sheriff at
his home, one who had been a lead investigator on the case at some point. The letter reportedly was several pages
long and was described by the sheriff's office spokesperson as being of a threatening nature. They admitted that
the unsigned letter referenced the disappearance of an unnamed deputy 25 years earlier. And of course, the only
missing former sheriff's deputy was Robin Abrams. The county sheriff was now investigating this letter of of
threatening nature. So, could this letter have been sent to the former sheriff to one keep him quiet? What what
were the threats, right? Who sent it? There was no other information about this letter that that I could find.
>> Right. >> But this leads us >> love to have the content of that letter. >> You know me, I love a good letter.
>> Yeah, there's something about a letter and a true crime story. >> Send us the letter. This leads to
another dig. This is dig number two. if you're keeping score at home. This takes
place in March of 2017 when police dug up a basement, a concrete slab at the same home that they had excavated in
1995. This was thanks to new leads. So, they're something's giving them on more than one occasion information about this
particular basement. >> Yeah. You wonder if she's in the basement or is she just on the property
somewhere? And of course, we wouldn't be sitting here telling this story very likely if if something of significance
was recovered, especially if it was Robin Abrams. What we can tell you about this second dig, uh, again, reported to
be that of the same basement that they had dug holes into prior, it's located in the 1000 block of South
Margaret Street. So, some some family there has a pretty messed up basement by this point. Uh, nothing of significance
were found. We do have uh the Tribune was told by a police officer that a cadaavver dog had hit on the home's
basement that they did find a human bone, but it turned out to be over 1,000 years old. So,
just a coincidence here. But listen to this. The family then says, "It's our belief that she was
there at some point and that we believe that she may have been killed there but moved to another place."
>> That would make sense. >> Well, and doesn't that kind of hearken back to what the investigator was
saying? Like, yeah, this basement was poured six weeks before she was disappeared, but other things take place
afterwards. Other things happen after the foundation is poured. >> Think about this.
If this douchebag had other officers that were helping him harass Robin, then possibly
they're feeding him information on any investigation into him. >> Mhm. And it could just be they don't
think he's involved and but it's like, "Hey, this is your ex-girlfriend and this is what's happening and that's
maybe why the sheriff gets a threatening letter. Maybe that's why things have moved or changed or maybe how they or
why they decided to move her body." Tony could be fed information from these these other law enforcement officers. in
April of 2018. This is an article from the Juliet Patch that commemorated the 28 years since Robin had disappeared. It
was also giving a voice to her family to vent about their frustrations. Quote, "The coverup still goes on," said one of
Robin's sisters. She said that the investigation had deliberately failed to find Robin so that the men who killed
her would be protected. Quote, "Well, it was one of their own," she said, referring to the fact that Tony Marquez
and the Will County Sheriff's Department was suspected of being involved in her death and hiding her body. She went on
to say, "It's a brotherhood. The good old boys. They run deep and they cross the boundaries.
You wash my back, I'll wash yours. They're like kissing cousins of the South, but their dirty little secrets
will be revealed one day. End quote. The sister goes on to tell the newspaper, quote, "We got nothing for Robin. It's
like she just disappeared off the face of the earth. I'm hoping to keep it in the news. maybe someone who knew about
it would come and clear their conscience so we can bring her home. We should point out here too that by August of
2024, there were 10 unidentified persons excluded on Robin's Nameless page. That means 10
bodies were compared to DNA from Robin's family and found not to be her. These comparisons are done only if the
characteristics or circumstances of the Jane do are similar to Robin's. That's a
significant number of rule outs of exclusions and Robin remains missing as of this
recording. The Robin Abrams case genuinely seems to be one of those frustrating cases in which everyone
knows who is responsible for what happened. But a cone of silence maintained by the persons of interest
has worked very effectively to put a halt to the investigation. Tony Marquez, an experienced member of
law enforcement, was experienced in law enforcement methods and evidentiary procedures and clearly connected with
the sheriff's department, possibly took very deliberate measures to ensure that Robin Abrams would never be found and
that he was not connected to her disappearance in any concrete way. It also seems that he got lucky with no one
finding Robin and the witness who saw her car being dropped off being un able to identify anyone reliably
and the case taking place in 1990 prior to cell phone tracking records and surveillance cameras. It seems the
window law enforcement had to bring charges against Tony Marquez was open early on
but now has closed. And that is the most unfair outcome we can imagine when you have a young woman who worked
hard to follow her dreams and enter into law enforcement falls under the spell of
an older experienced law man. and it ends up costing her everything. I want to give a special shout out to
CBS Chicago. It was one of their online articles that caught my eye and inspired
us to cover Robin's case this week. The article headline is case of former Will County Sheriff Deputy Remains mystery
years later. That was from March of 2014. The opening paragraph to that article is what caught my attention. And
it reads, "She," meaning Robin Abrams, "has been missing longer than Stacy Peterson and Lisa Steic combined, but
you've probably never heard of Robin Abrams, who disappeared from Beer, Illinois back in October of 1990. I know
Stacy Peterson's case. We will. We have yet to get to that one, but True Crime Garage did cover Lisa
Stebick's case. That was episodes 271 and 272 on your garage radio dial back from January of 2019.
And one of Robin's sisters, Jodie Walsh, she has openly expressed her and the family's disappointment with this
investigation, but she says she will keep fighting for her sister. Quote, "Her life was
important to us. I'll never give up. Never. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Want to thank everybody for joining us
here in the garage. Thanks for telling your mother. Thanks for telling your brother. If you're not listening to Off
the Record, you should join us in the garage. We just covered a possible update in the Brian Schaefer case and we
have so much more in store for the great listeners of Off the Record. Colonel, do
we have any recommended reading for the beautiful listeners? >> Yes, we do. Captain, you are always
quick to mention your mother and your brother. But guess what? Thanksgiving's coming up. So when you're sitting around
the table feasting, don't be afraid to tell your cousins, even the ones you don't really like, about True Crime
Garage. This week we are recommending uh this book's fantastic. It's by good friend of the show Bob Ciphers has
recently released his second true crime book and it's a damn good one. The title
is 25 frozen onethalled murder and mayhem in the Midwest. Many of these cases are cases that Bob worked during
his time as an investigative journalist and crime reporter for some of the best newspapers in the Midwest. And as you
can tell by the title, one of these cold cases is heating up. And we hope that one and all of the others are closed out
real soon. Again, that's 25 frozen, onethalled, murder and mayhem in the Midwest by the great Bob Ciphers. You
can find that title and many more wonderful recommendations on our recommended page located at true
crimegar.com. And until next week, be good, be kind, and don't litter. [music] >> [music]
[music]

Robin Abrams /// Part 2 /// 885

Part 2 of 2

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On October 4, 1990 - former Will County Sheriff’s Deputy Robin Abrams vanished without a trace. She remains missing to this day. Robin Renea Abrams was just 28 years old when she went missing. According to the Daily Southtown, she was last seen by her father as they drove past each other on a rural road. Because of her former work with Will County and persons that were still working for Will County Sheriff’s Office when Robin went missing her case is being handled by the F.B.I. and the Illinois State Police.

Beer of the Week - Dish Lickers by Tactical Brewing Company

Garage Grade - 4 and a half bottle caps out of 5

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Brief Summary

The episode discusses the unresolved case of Robin Abrams, focusing on suspects and investigation challenges since her 1990 disappearance.

Key points

The Mysterious Disappearance of Robin Abrams. Robin Abrams went missing under suspicious circumstances, leading to a complex investigation.
Eyewitness Accounts and Conflicting Stories. Eyewitness accounts are crucial yet inconsistent, complicating the investigation into Robin's disappearance.
Legal Battles and Privacy Rights. The case faces legal challenges regarding evidence collection from suspects Tony Marquez and John Romo.
The Power of Sponsored Jobs. Indeed's sponsored jobs boost your post for quality candidates, making a big difference.
Eyewitness Testimonies Under Scrutiny. The reliability of eyewitness accounts is questioned as the investigation unfolds.
A Mysterious Letter Emerges. A threatening letter referencing Robin's disappearance raises new questions in the case.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Not knowing if Robin is alive or dead really drives me crazy.

Barbara, Robin's mother, expressing her anguish over her daughter's disappearance.

8:32WatchNov 12, 2025

Tension

65/ 100Some tension

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