Gary Michael Kessen was 29 when he was last seen on July 26, 1985, in Orland Park, Illinois. He reportedly dropped off a copy of his will and a farewell note addressed to his nephew during that visit. His mother filed a missing persons report with the Orland Park Police Department on August 10, and Kessen’s car was found abandoned at O’Hare International Airport on August 30. Friends told investigators he had planned to travel to Las Vegas but never did.

Later investigative and court material unearthed a disturbing link: testimony in a 1992 murder-for-hire trial said Kessen paid money to Blue Island police officer Ronald Tellez in connection with the murder of Kessen’s stepfather, Harold Rowley Jr. Tellez was named as an heir in the will Kessen prepared just before he vanished. Because of those connections and Tellez’s known presence in several forest preserves, investigators have suspected Kessen was the victim of a homicide and that his remains might be buried in Calumet Grove, Kickapoo Meadows, or Whistler Woods. No confirmed location or recovery has been reported.

Did anyone in or near Orland Park in 1985 recall seeing Gary, his car at O’Hare after July 26, or activity around those forest preserves?