Oct 12, 2009 9:23 pm US/Central
Cold Case Minute: Lane Bryant Massacre
Bill Kurtis
TINLEY PARK, Ill. (CBS) ―
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Authorities released a 3-D sketch of the suspected gunman who killed five women in a south suburban clothing store Feb. 2, 2008.
How did one man murder five women inside a clothing store and get away?
Twenty months have passed since the murders at the Lane Bryant store in Tinley Park with no arrests, but CBS 2's Bill Kurtis reports that detectives refuse to say it's a cold case.
A cold case is usually one where all leads have been exhausted and time has passed. For some, the Lane Bryant murders would be considered a cold case, but Tinley Park Police Chief Mike O'Connell asked us to re-define the term and instead call it an "old" case, saying it is still very much an active investigation.
And he still hopes someone will come forward.
Two weeks before Valentine's Day in 2008, six women welcomed the warmth of the Lane Bryant clothing store in Brookside Marketplace mall.
No one noticed the man pointing a gun until it was too late. Within minutes, all six were bound and gagged in the backroom
Huddled together, the gun's muzzle was pressed to each of their necks
Sirens followed and there was a quick getaway by the killer, with only carnage left behind
At 10:19 a.m. on Feb 2, 2008, the back room of Lane Bryant housed a massacre. Six women shot; five dead and one -- miraculously -- alive.
Tinley Park, the village that filed no homicides the previous year, had five at once. A mass murderer manhunt began.
According to the lone survivor, the killer is a black man, 25 to 35 years old, 5-foot-10 and well groomed down to his manicured fingernails
His hairstyle was most the distinct feature: cornrows, with one single braid hanging from the right side, adorned by four green beads.
The single witness wasn't the only victim speaking out. From beyond the grave, police have the 911 call secretly placed by store manager Rhonda McFarland
Muffled at first, the FBI's audio enhancement team clarified things and illuminated the final moments of a robbery gone wrong.
In the tape, the killer clearly says, "I'm losing it"
No surveillance video exsists from inside the store. However, 100 yards away, a single parking lot camera was rolling.
Secret Service specialists enhanced the grainy video enough to observe two cars leaving the scene moments before the first sqaud car arrived.
One SUV has been identified, while the second car remains a mystery.
Twenty months later, the Lane Bryant killer is still at large.
And while the case may becoming old, it is far from cold. Everyday, detectives follow leads and insist the trail remains hot.
Recently cruiser dashboard camera video was analyzed for license plates in the area. And numerous pieces of fingerprint and DNA evidnece from the back storage room might someday provide a hit
Detectives have fielded 5,000 tips and said they welcome 5,000 more if just one leads to the arrest of the killer
Police are offering an increased reward of $100,000 for information about the Lane Bryant massacre. If you have information, call the Tinley Park Police Department at (708) 444-5394
The lone survivor was place in witness protection, where she remains to this day.
Detectives have been tight-lipped about even acknowledging she exists, knowing she is the only one who can positively identify the killer.
Meantime, the boldness of five point-blank executions tells detectives this is not the killer's first dance. He probably has a long criminal past and a history of violence that -- until he is captured –- likely will continue.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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