Chalkboard Thoughts

        Debbie Dmitruck was looking at her watch under a street light in Hammond, Indiana. It was August 28th, 1973.    A blue car was approaching. Debbie and her two friends were stunned when Debbie cried out. A shot had been fired from the blue car.  Debbie had been hit in the chest.    Luckily for Debbie; the wound was only a minor one.     Who would shoot Debbie? Was this an accident?  Was this intentional? Why would anyone want to harm Debbie and her friends?     Could it have been the budding serial killer at O.P. Morton High School who was a couple grades older than Debbie?    Danny Rouse lived in Hammond and went to school with Debbie. He graduated in 1974 and moved a bit further south to Monterrey, Indiana. That Fall he would shoot and kill Nellie Mikesell for absolutely no reason it seemed. He stood outside her home at night and shot her sniper style through t...

  Marilyn Herrol 1973    Marilyn Herrol was a ten year old girl in 1973. She had a twin sister named Carolyn. They lived with their mother Elsie just three blocks from George Washington Carver Park on Chicago’s South Side.     Their apartment complex at 13163 South Corliss Avenue appears very neat and well maintained on Google Earth today. The apartments were built to house returning African American WWII Veterans and their families.     On Sunday March 25,1973 Carolyn and her mother could not find Marilyn.  Carolyn had last seen her at 11 p.m.  Elsie called the police and reported her daughter missing.      I wonder if the paper actually meant to report that Carolyn last saw her at 11 a.m.?  It seems odd that ten year old little girls would be up at 11 p.m.  But, maybe it was Spring Break and nice weather and everyone was playing outside later. If there’s a rare warm day in Mar...

     Denise Diane Pflum was born January 14th of 1968, in Connersville, Indiana. She grew up there in the small town and attended the local schools. It was a nice quiet small town existence.         March 28th,1986 was Good Friday. Easter was coming up. It was also Spring Break. High School senior Denise Diane Pflum had recently broken up with her boyfriend. But, she was feeling upbeat and optimistic about the future. She was headed to Miami University in Ohio that Fall. That’s an exciting time in a young person’s life. There’s so much to look forward to.     Denise was the oldest child in her family. Oldest daughters are usually very responsible and that was true for Denise as well.     Denise had been to a big bonfire party in a field the night before with other classmates and friends. It was a huge party with several hundred teens said to be in attendance. She realized in the morning that she...