On October 25, 1977, 31-year-old Martha Ryan, also known as Martha E. Kowalski, was reported missing in Chicago. She had prior convictions related to sex work. Witnesses last saw her with an unidentified young man driving an orange Chevrolet Vega.

Eight days later her body was found wrapped in a blanket and abandoned in bushes outside a liquor store in Skokie, Illinois. Investigators noted the scene’s proximity to the residence of pizza delivery man Joseph Robert Miller; his vehicle matched the witnesses’ description.

Following questioning, police linked Miller to another victim, 22-year-old Ann Iecile Maxham, and arrested Miller on November 5, 1977, for the murders of Ryan and Maxham. Searches of his apartment and car produced evidence tying him to other violent crimes; he was later convicted and initially sentenced to death, a sentence that was subsequently commuted to life imprisonment.

Did anyone in the Chicago or Skokie area at that time know Martha Ryan, her movements, or the orange Vega seen with her?