On October 9, 1976, 24-year-old Jay Fry and his 24-year-old pregnant wife, Robin Fry, were found murdered in their home in Lincoln, Illinois. Jay Fry worked as a produce manager at the local Kroger and both he and Robin were graduates of Lincoln Community High School, described as looking forward to the birth of their first child. The killings deeply affected the small community.

Authorities tied the slayings to 21-year-old Russell Albin Smrekar, a former Lincoln College student from Joliet who had a record of petty thefts. Jay Fry had been scheduled to testify against Smrekar in a theft case involving stolen steaks from Fry’s store, and Robin Fry was also believed to be a potential witness. Smrekar was convicted in April 1977 for the shotgun killings and given two consecutive sentences of 100 to 300 years.

The case has long been tangled with other disappearances tied to Smrekar, notably Ruth Martin and Michael Mansfield, who vanished amid cases where Smrekar faced legal jeopardy. Smrekar later made a deathbed confession in 2011 about Martin and Mansfield, but questions persist about possible accomplices and the handling of key evidence, including a bloody T-shirt with a name on the collar. Does anyone have information about evidence or witnesses not covered in the original investigations?