Veronica worked at a local grocery store called Super Valu and had just returned back to work after a battle with mono. She clocked out at 1:07 am on Thursday , September 20, 1990. Her and her co=worker walked to their cars. Veronica had rented the movie 'Stella' and told her co worker that she would probably wait until the next day to watch the movie because she was extremely tired was going to go home and go to bed. The two women got in their cars and drove off to their homes. Veronica was last seen driving her blue Chevrolet Corsica down Wisconsin Avenue towards her home. 



Betty, Veronica's mother, woke at approximately 2:00 am and looked out the kitchen window that looked out to the garage which was approximately 25 feet away. There was a system set up within the family to indicate one had gotten home safely; the garage light was left on until the last person got home and turned it off as they closed up the garage and walked the short distance to the house. Betty noticed the garage door was closed, the light was off, and she could see the back end of Veronica's car through the window. She went back to bed, oblivious that her daughter had disappeared.

 

Her car was found parked in the family garage the next morning with no evidence of a struggle. She was supposed to take her brother Todd to school in the morning and he was the first to notice that Veronica was not in the house. He called their father, Paul, to ask if he knew where Veronica was because she wasn't in bed. Paul told Todd that she was most likely out to breakfast with her boyfriend and had forgotten to take him school. Paul told him to drive his own car to school and he would pick it up later to work on the engine; Todd drove to school, oblivious that his sister was truly missing. 



Paul arrived home from his shift as a city fireman and noticed Veronica was not home yet, he figured she had gone to breakfast with her boyfriend. He set out to his part time job, oblivious his daughter vanished without a trace. 



Upon arriving home, the phone rang and Paul answered the call. It was the family doctor's office asking for Veronica, she missed her follow up appointment. Paul feels something is wrong but is not yet overly concerned. While it was out of character for her to miss an appointment, it was a rational possibility that she had forgotten. A short time later the phone rings again and Paul answers the call. It is her boyfriend asking to talk to Veronica. They have a brief conversation, now Paul is more concerned. He is so concerned that he drives 20 minutes to their oldest daughter's, Carolyn, house to see if Veronica was with her; she was not. 



Carolyn followed her dad back to the family home. It was a short drive normally, but this journey took forever for the two. Carolyn drove towards her family home, oblivious her sister was simply gone. 



Upon arrival at the home at approximately 11:00am Paul and Carolyn are met by Veronica's boyfriend, Jeff Veverka, and Mendota Police investigator and family neighbor, John Pakenham. Jeff had called the police to report Veronica missing. Several neighbors had also assembled. Betty was called home from work early and told that her daughter could not be located and there was no clue as to why. Shortly afterwards, Todd was brought out of school and told the news. 



The nightmare begins...



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