Lori Hayes was 25 and living in Springfield, Illinois, when she was murdered on August 1, 1999. She had been shopping with her 9-month-old daughter, Alexis; passersby later found the infant crying alone in Lori’s car. Police reported blood on the rear bumper and inside the vehicle and recovered a spent shell casing at the scene. Lori’s body was found the next day in a cornfield southwest of Springfield; she had a single gunshot wound to the back of the head and the autopsy confirmed a sexual assault, with semen recovered.

Drag marks near the body led investigators to conclude Lori had been killed elsewhere and transported to the field. DNA from the semen matched evidence from an earlier series of attacks on real estate agents in late 1998, in which an assailant used a fake name, pulled a gun, photographed a victim naked, and fled after being identified on a voice recording. A composite from those cases prompted a tip identifying a security guard, Dale Lash; his brother reportedly recognized the voice on the tape. Investigators believe Lori was forced to drive to a secluded spot where she was raped and killed.

Did anyone have contact with Lori at the mall or see her car around the time she disappeared?