May 15, 2008 5:59 pm US/Central
Police Continue Search For Lane Bryant Murderer
Feb. 2 Fatal Shootings Are Tinley Park's Most Horrific Unsolved Crime
TINLEY PARK, Ill. (CBS) ―
Police are looking for a break in the murder of five women in a Tinley Park clothing store.
CBS 2's Kristyn Hartman reports a memorial to the victims that had been erected in the parking lot of the Tinley Park Lane Bryant store was removed Thursday, with clergy and family members of the victims present.
Hours earlier police held a news conference, saying they have no one in custody, and no suspects in the case.
Tinley Park Police hope what they say about their most horrific unsolved case will reach someone who can help them find the murderer.
On Feb. 2, 2008, a man walked into the store and shot and killed five women, and injured a sixth, but not before one of them, store manager Rhoda McFarland, untied herself and called 911.
"She did the right thing. She tried to call 911," said Cmdr. Bill Valois. "She stayed with those other people in the store. It was a very brave, heroic act."
It is especially so when you consider there was an exit that she could perhaps have taken to get out to safety.
McFarland's brother, Maurice Hamilton, told CBS 2 by phone, "Instead of leaving or trying to use the exit and save herself, she was actually trying to save the other five people."
"I've been proud of her ever since I been born," Hamilton added.
He praised other victims' families and, like them, he hopes authorities find the person who pulled the trigger.
Investigators say they are working hard to do that. NASA is helping them blow up stills from the morning of the shooting to try to identify a possible getaway car.
Detectives are also running fingerprints they have gathered from the scene. They have eliminated some of those prints, but not all.
They do believe they will find their man.
"We want to do everything we can to make sure we catch this guy," Valois said. "These ladies could have been your mother, your sister, your wife. It's terrible."
Every time the case makes news, the phones ring with potential tips. So far 3,000 people have called in tips and police have put in more than 25,000 man hours on the case.
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