Tricia Kellett:1982, Chicago, Illinois

   

  Tricia Kellett was born on May 31st, 1973 to Dorothy Jo Kellett and Brad Kellett. She had a brother named Brian. 

  On Friday, May 7th,1982, Tricia and Brian were out of school for the weekend and preparing to go to their Dad’s house. Tricia asked to play outside while they waited. Her mother saw nothing wrong with that. The street was full of kids playing outside at the time. It was a nice day. They neighborhood had always been quiet and safe. 

  Her neighborhood was called Uptown. It’s north of Wrigley Field and a short walk from Lake Michigan. Most of the buildings there are apartment buildings that are only a few stories tall. This is not an area with large high rises and skyscrapers. 

  Tricia was last seen around the corner of Malden Street and Leland. Witnesses saw a man put her into a blue four-door 1979 Pontiac or Dodge with a damaged right front door. Kids thought they remembered a Q and an R as two of the first letters of the plate. 

  Children on the street had seen the man talking with Tricia near his car. He was described as a 6 foot tall white man about 200 lbs. with brown hair and a brown mustache. They estimated him to be about 30-35 years old. 

  The thing about many abductions is that they don’t look like an abduction. It may have appeared to witnesses that Tricia and the man knew one another. I can think of at least two other cases where people saw the abduction and did not intervene because it did not seem like an abduction. There was not a sense of danger. 

  After Tricia’s parents searched the neighborhood they called the police. Chicago Police responded and they also began searching. 

  Despite a description of the man and his car, no arrests were made. 

  Chicago newspapers covered Tricia’s story initially. But, there were no breaks in the case. With no updates there were no big follow up stories. 

 In 1985, Tricia Kellett’s photo and details of her case appeared on milk cartons all across the country. 

  Sometimes people are critical of the milk carton campaign. They say it scared kids as they had their morning cereal. I was never scared by it. I read each story and I hoped that they would find the child. I also hoped that this would never happen to me. I was also made aware of just how dangerous the world could be. I think the milk carton campaign saved a great many kids. Forewarned is forearmed. 

  Since May 7th, 1982 there has been no sign of Tricia Kellett. No unidentified remains have surfaced that have matched her. Tricia had previously broken her left wrist and fractured her skull. She had a gap in her two front teeth at the time of her disappearance. She was four feet tall and weighed 70 pounds. 

  Investigators have released age progressed photos to show what Tricia might look like today. It is sad to say but she was probably killed shortly after being taken. Sometimes a long kidnapped child will surface as an adult but that is rare. We can always have hope though. 

   Who took Tricia? One thought I had was Larry Eyler.  He was free then, I believe and loosely fits the description. He tended to attack men and boys though. Not that he couldn’t or wouldn’t take a girl but all his other known victims were male. 

   Sadly, the description of the man who took Tricia matches most of the white men in Chicago then. 

   One man who matched the description and is a convicted child killer is Brian Dugan. He kidnapped, sexually assaulted and murdered Melissa Ackerman in Somanauk, Illinois in 1985. He kidnapped her and tried to take her friend too.  In broad daylight he grabbed the two girls off their bikes and shoved them in his car. He was not concerned about witnesses then. Melissa's friend escaped and gave a detailed description which led to his arrest. He was tried and convicted and sentenced to death for her murder but is serving a life sentence with no possibility of parole currently. 

  He was also convicted of other murders as well. In February of 1983 he abducted, sexually assaulted and killed 10 year old Jeanine Nicarico. He abducted, sexually assaulted and killed Donna Schnorr in 1984. 

   Was he free on May 7th, 1982? He would have been 26 then. I don’t know what he was driving in 1982 but in 1985 he was driving a light blue AMC Gremlin with front end damage. 

   Who took Tricia? Where is she? Without a body the investigation cannot really go forward. If I was looking for Tricia, I would start with Brian Dugan. He’s still alive and in custody for life in Illinois. 

   Perhaps someone will come forward with more information one day. We can always hope.

   If you have information about the disappearance of Tricia Kellett please submit a tip here:

https://cookcountysheriffil.gov/person/tricia-j-kellett/