A girl went to a store just a few minutes away from her house but she never came back the police started their search and over the course of the investigation they uncovered some pretty strange Clues still the mystery remained unsolved for decades until the truth came out in a completely unexpected way Christy wesselman was born on a ail 19th 1970 in Glenn Ellen Illinois she lived there with her mom two older brothers and a sister their town was considered one of the safest in the area and Christy loved spending time outside

she’d spent hours wandering the streets with other kids from the neighborhood at school christe was popular and had a lot of friends she was actively involved in school life and even got elected as vice president of her class on top of that she played volleyball and softball in the summer of 1985 15-year-old christe was taking summer classes at school and spent most of her free time hanging out with friends on July 21st Christy came home from school around 3:30 p.m.

 right after getting home she decided to walk to a local store to grab a soda and a chocolate bar for herself and her mom her mother expected her back in just a few minutes since the store was close by But as time went on it became clear something was wrong wrong because christe wasn’t coming home at first her mom thought she might have run into some friends and gone off with them back then there were no cell phones so she couldn’t check in with christe and had no choice but to wait as evening set in her worry only grew she called christe’s friends but none of them had

seen her that day growing desperate she headed to the store herself scanning the streets along the way but there was no sign of christe anywhere christe’s family spent the next several hours searching for her but when there was still no sign of her by 1:50 a.m. her mother decided to contact the police officers quickly joined the search starting by piecing together christe’s last known movements first they spoke with the clerk at the store she’d visited the man knew Christy well he lived nearby and had even Babys sat her

when she was younger he confirmed that Christy had come by around 400 p.m. picked up some chocolate bars and left she didn’t mention where she was headed but the clerk noted that she seemed happy and nothing about her behavior struck him as unusual police also found a few other Witnesses who had seen christe at the store but none of them could recall where she went after that investigators spoke to all of christe’s friends considering the possibility that she might have lost track of time while hanging out with some of them but none

of her friends had seen her that day the police then focused all their resources on on the search and began combing through the streets but by that time it was already the middle of the night making the search even more challenging despite their determination there was no trace of Christie no clues no leads nothing the search continued through the early morning and by midday a new group of officers took over one of them suggested trying to retrace Christy’s likely route he guessed that she had probably taken the shortest path from

her house to the store a shortcut through a nearby Field back then there was a large vacant lot with tall grass between the residential area and the store walking around it would take quite a bit of time for adults driving cars it wasn’t an issue but local kids who frequented the store or the nearby McDonald’s always took a shortcut through the field where a narrow path had been worn into the grass the detective decided to follow this Trail as he made his way along it something unusual caught his eye in the grass

pushing through the overgrowth he realized it was a human body and he quickly recognized Christy he immediately called for backup and the body was handed over to the medical examiners for further analysis forensic specialist combed through the crime scene for any evidence but their search came up empty no Footprints no personal belongings nothing to help explain what had happened the medical examiners determined that christe had died from 8 stab wounds they also found evidence of sa and collected the perpetrator’s

biological material but in 1985 DNA testing was still in its emphy and not commonly used in criminal investigations so with no way to analyze it the sample was stored for future use christe’s mother also helped police piece together another interesting detail Christy had been wearing a pearl ring on her finger that day however the ring was nowhere to be found neither on her body nor at the crime scene detectives concluded that the killer might have taken it and instructed all officers to keep an eye on pawn shops in case the murderer tried

to sell it with no physical evidence to work with the police focused on finding potential Witnesses who might have seen christe or the killer near the field they managed to track down several people who had used the same path around the estimated time of the murder but none of them reported seeing anything suspicious it was quite weird because christe’s body was just a few yards off the trail although it was hidden by the tall grass making it nearly impossible to spot investigators also learned that just a few dozen yards from where

christe’s body was found a family had been hosting a barbecue in their backyard but despite being so close to the scene none of them remembered hearing or seeing anything out of the ordinary an employee at a gas station about 60 yard from the field also worked his entire shift that day but did didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary to the police the situation seemed bizarre so many people had been near the crime scene yet no one saw or heard anything investigators theorized that the unknown attacker either followed christe from

the store to the field or encountered her on the path he likely led her just a few yards into the tall grass and killed her all without making a sound detectives considered the possibility that christe might have known her killer which could explain why there were no screams after all their town was small and many residents knew each other police began investigating all the men who knew Christie but this effort LED nowhere they also compiled a list of men in the area with prior convictions for violent crimes several suspects were

reviewed but none of them could be tied to the murder for several months the police made little progress in solving the mystery they continued following up on tips and investigating new suspects but every lead brought them to a dead end this dragged on for three long years until an unexpected breakthrough came in 1988 by that time DNA analysis was becoming a key tool in criminal investigations detectives decided to collect DNA samples from everyone who had been a potential suspect in christe’s case over the years many

agreed to cooperate and none of their samples matched the biological evidence found at the scene but there was one person who refused to provide a DNA sample Dana Henry a 34-year-old man living near the field where christe was found had been on the police’s radar from the first days of the investigation at the time Henry denied having anything to do with the crime but now his refusal to give a sample made detectives seriously question his innocence the police decided to seek a court order to obtain his DNA Henry appeared at the

court hearing and continued to insist he was innocent however he was charged with contempt of court and held in a local jail cell for several days only after that Henry agreed to provide his DNA sample in the end his DNA didn’t match the Killer’s sample and Henry was released once he was out he told reporters that he had been held in a jail cell without clothing and was only released after he gave in to the immense pressure and reluctantly agreed to provide a sample Henry said he spent around $50,000 on legal fees a

significant amount of money at the time he had to mortgage his home which he eventually lost and many of his friends and family turned their backs on him frustrated and angry Henry filed a lawsuit against the police department but it didn’t seem to lead anywhere even after DNA evidence cleared his name some people still believed he was guilty years later Henry admitted to reporters that the whole ordeal had ruined his life even though he was never formally charged with a crime CRI for another year christe’s case remained at a

standstill until 1989 when an unexpected twist brought it back into the spotlight a judge issued a restraining order against a local man who had been bombarding the victim’s family with tips about who he believed was responsible for christe’s murder the man named Willis first contacted Christie’s relatives in late 1985 he claimed to have information about the Killer’s identity and started sending them various leads each tip was investigated by the police but every time it turned out to be either far-fetched or

completely irrelevant to the case this dragged on for almost 4 years until christe’s family couldn’t take it anymore they filed a complaint and a judge issued an order barring Willis from ever contacting them again following the restraining order police decided to investigate Willis himself but they found no evidence linking him to the crime in 2000 the Killer’s DNA was uploaded to the FBI database but no matches were found the case remained cold for many years from time to time the police Revisited it following up on

tips but they never got any closer to catching the killer this went on for three entire decades over the years the original detectives had all retired or moved on and christe’s case had been assigned to a new team then in 2015 something completely unexpected happened one day they got a notification from the FBI database the DNA sample from christe’s killer perfectly matched a recently uploaded profile the DNA belonged to a 62-year-old man named Michael Jones who lived in a small town called champagne about 150 mi from

Christy’s home Jones’s DNA was added to the database after he was arrested for domestic violence his wife had reported him to the police which led to his arrest according to an Illinois law passed in 2002 anyone suspected of a crime has to provide a DNA sample interestingly the main advocate for this law was the state’s attorney from the same county where christe’s murder took place and this particular unsolved case had been a major factor in his push to get this legislation passed as soon as the DNA match came through investigators

jumped into action looking into Michael Jones the first thing that stood out was that his name had never been mentioned in the case before he wasn’t a suspect a witness or even someone remotely connected to the investigation the detective simply hadn’t known he existed Michael Jones had a long criminal history his first runin with the law came in the mid 7s when he assaulted a woman but for some unknown reason he apparently avoided any real consequences just a year later Jones attacked a 27-year-old woman assaulted her and left

her in a hospital parking lot when police issued a warrant for his arrest Michael turned himself in during his trial he expressed deep regret for his actions and claimed he had a great respect for the law that’s why he surrendered voluntarily Jones also insisted that he suffered from serious mental health issues and needed professional help however an independent psychiatrist determined that he was fully aware of his actions as a result Jones was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison as you might have guessed was

released early for good behavior he ended up serving just 6 years of his sentence and was back on the streets by 1983 2 years before christe’s murder what’s even more striking is that his victim wasn’t informed of his early release later she stated that had she known she would have done everything in her power to challenge the decision a year after his release Michael got married but in 1994 his first wife left him and secured a restraining order against him the reason he had been showing an unhealthy interest in one of

her young relatives but despite this alarming Behavior no formal charges were ever filed in 1999 Michael was arrested again this time for assaulting a family member of his new girlfriend detectives also learned that Michael often went on Long solo motorcycle trips and frequently visited relatives in Chicago given that christe’s town was on the outskirts of his route it’s possible he he passed through the area while traveling to see his family if that was the case it would explain why he never appeared on the detective’s radar if

Michael was just passing through for a few hours tracking his presence would have been nearly impossible christe’s mother said she had never heard his name before when police first called her to ask about Michael she didn’t think much of it over the past 30 years investigators had contacted her many times with questions so this just felt like another routine inquiry but everything changed when police obtained a fresh DNA sample from Michael while he was in prison and confirmed once and for all that he was the killer they visited

christe’s mother in person to deliver the news after all these years the man responsible for her daughter’s murder had finally been caught before formally charging Michael with christe’s murder detective spoke with his ex-girlfriend and uncovered more details about him she described Michael as someone with a volatile temperament he could be calm one moment and then suddenly fly into a rage for no apparent reason she also mentioned that he was obsessed with detective books and crime shows on TV this information LED investigators to

suspect that Michael might not just be responsible for christe’s murder but potentially other unsolved crimes as well his frequent solo trips criminal Tendencies and fascination with crime stories hinted that he might have known how to cover his tracks and avoid leaving evidence behind after building their case against Michael police officially charged him on September 18th 2015 and Michael denied any involvement in christe’s Murder the case eventually went to court but the waight dragged on for three long years the trial didn’t

start until 2018 prosecutors sought a life sentence but in the end Michael decided to plead guilty in exchange for a lighter sentence as part of the deal he wasn’t required to reveal any details about the crime but with the DNA evidence there was no question about his guilt as a result the judge sentenced him to 80 years in prison with a possibility of parole no earlier than 2095 in other words Michael will likely never walk free again christe’s family thanked the investigators for finally bringing the case to a close christe’s

mother also expressed her frustration over Michael’s early release in 1983 she pointed out that if he had served his full 10year sentence he wouldn’t have had the chance to attack her daughter and Christie would still be alive today Henry the man initially suspected of the crime also attended the trial of the real killer in a later interview he shared that the accusations had ruined his life and even decades later he still hadn’t fully recovered he hoped that seeing.