It was on January 31st, 1996 when 13 year old Rachel Marie Mellon Skemp stayed home from Ward Middle School due to a sore throat. She was home alone with her unemployed stepfather, Vincent Mellon. He stated they played video games together, and she had fallen asleep in her bedroom with her blue blanket. It was 2:30 in the afternoon that Rachel had fallen asleep, and Vincent took the family dog, a German Shepard, outside for a walk. He had left the door unlocked while he was gone.
While on his walk, he stated the dog got off the leash to chase a rabbit. He returned home without the dog half an hour later, and checked on Rachel, who was nowhere to be found in the Boilingbrook, Illinois home. Rachel was not reported missing until 5:00 PM when her mother, Amy Mellon, and the rest of the family came home. The two pillows she was sleeping with as well as the blue blanket are also missing. Despite it being below zero out that day, Rachel left behind her coat, winter clothes, purse, Walkman and her shoes. There was no indication of forced entry. Rachel has not been seen or heard from since.
Rachel Mellon Skemp was a seventh grader at the time she vanished. She was 5'0" tall and 62-80 lbs. She is Asian. with black hair and hazel eyes. She has a mole on the upper left side of her lip, and her ears are pierced. She may appear to be of the Greek or Italian descent. Her hair was cut short at the time she vanished, but she often wore it shoulder length. She was last seen wearing a pink sweater, yellow sweatpants and red house slippers. Her father, Jeff Skemp, lived in Dallas, Texas at the time she vanished. He stated Rachel had called his mother the day she vanished, which was very unusual because she was not allowed to talk to her grandmother. He believes Rachel met with foul play, and held a memorial service for her in 2006. At the time Rachel vanished, she was an honors student. She loved nature, recycling and science. Her mother and stepfather, Vincent, moved away after she vanished in 1996. No arrests have been made in her case, but it is currently investigated as a first degree homicide.
The day Rachel vanished, a huge search around the area was done, but there was no sign of Rachel. Authorities stated if she was outside somewhere, she would have not lasted long because all her winter items were left at home, and it was below zero out. Her mother, Amy Mellon, has stated she thinks Amy is alive, and was taken by an unknown person. From the start, her stepfather, Vince, has been a suspect in her disappearance. He had scratches on his arm the day Rachel vanished, and he claimed it was from working on his car, while it was below zero out. He has a long record for domestic violence and has failed a lie detector test in connection with Rachel's disappearance. In 1996, Rachel ran away to a friend's house, but voluntarily returned home afterwards. More disturbingly, police had read in Rachel's diary after she vanished that her stepfather, Vincent, had kissed her and touched her inappropriately.
Now, although another theory may seem obvious, it was thought that other relatives had taken Rachel out of state, but that theory was discarded. Since she vanished, her bank account has not been touched, and their is no evidence of her purchasing a bus or plane ticket. I am pretty convinced the stepfather knows more than he is saying. Not only was he the last person to see Amy alive, but who walks their dog when it's below zero out? Who works on their car when it is below zero out? And why would Amy leave her home, or agree to with an "unknown intruder", without taking her shoes or coat when it was below zero out?
I also found it odd that her pillows and blanket were missing. That sound pretty fishy to me. Along with his long record of domestic violence, and him failing the lie detector test, it is pretty obvious what had happened. I only wonder how long Rachel had the abuse happen to her. Her diary entry about her stepfather touching her inappropriate is so very haunting. And on top of everything else, they move away in 1996 after Rachel goes missing?! I understand the pain of a loved one can be unbearable, but most loved ones of a missing person at least stay in the area for a year or two, in hopes their loved one comes back looking for them. They even tend to keep the same phone number in case they try to call home, as her father, Jeff Skemp has done. This is just one of the cases that makes me bang my head against a wall because they have strong grounds on who had done this. but they do not have Rachel to prove it. I had read that Vincent recently gotten into a car accident while pulling out of a strip club. It just makes me so mad to think of him out and about living life, when Rachel is still missing, and those who loved her are still in so much pain. In 2001, they had begun to make some attempts to close this case, but I really do hope they do not close it until Rachel is found. I want to see Rachel and her loved ones get justice, I want to see Rachel have the last laugh on putting this person who did this to her away, so no one else will be harmed and go through what she has. (I wonder about other family members who were living with her at the time-have they gone through any negative encounters at home?) Although this is currently being investigated as a first degree homicide (Rachel's father also hired a private investigator-this case is open and very active), Rachel is still missing. And although everyone has an assumption of what happened, the truth is we will never know until we find Rachel. Please remember Rachel, please continue the search for this beautiful girl. I will be posting many links for Rachel to her sites under the "Sources". Someone knows something! Now is the time to come forward!!
