Audrey Cardenas was 24 and had just graduated from Texas A&M when she began an internship at the Belleville News-Democrat. She failed to show for work on Monday, June 20, 1988. Her decomposing body was found in a creek bed behind Belleville East High School on June 26. The medical examiner could not determine a precise cause of death because of the state of the remains, but it was ruled a homicide; investigators believed she may have been strangled or had her throat cut.

The investigation produced a contentious outcome. A transient, Rodney Woidtke, was arrested after crossing a police line, confessed to the killing several times with details that conflicted with medical findings, and was convicted of first-degree murder at a 1989 bench trial.

Woidtke’s conviction was overturned by an Illinois appeals court and he was acquitted at retrial on March 30, 2001, after nearly 13 years in prison. Authorities and an FBI profiler have said they believe Anderson was responsible, but no charge in Cardenas’s death has been filed and the case remains unsolved. If anyone knew Audrey, saw her in Belleville in June 1988, or has information about Anderson’s contacts or movements then, please share what is known.