Police admit trail is cold in Palatine teen's murder
Editor's note: This article was originally published in the Daily Herald on July 3, 1998.
Although investigators remain optimistic, the likelihood Amber Gail Creek's killer will be found is questionable, crime experts said Thursday.
Time, they argue, is crucial when solving a murder, and with the homicide trail nearly 17 months cold, police already have lost a lot of it.
Still, members of a newly appointed task force say they are "confident" they will find the person responsible for the former Palatine and Lake Zurich girl's death.
They have DNA and fingerprint evidence to use once a suspect is discovered. They have support from local and federal police in two states and now they are interviewing people who may have had contact with Amber during her 14-year life.
"I'm thinking we're going to be successful," said lead investigator Joyce Singer of the Racine County Sheriff's Department.
Amber last lived in Chicago but was found dead in Wisconsin early February 1997.
Until last week, when her parents identified her, Amber was known only as Jane Doe.
The police say now that they know who she is, it's only a matter of time before her killer is apprehended.
Others say they can only hope.
"The 17-month delay is not at all helpful," said Jack Levin, director of The Center for the Study of Violence at Northeastern University in Boston. "But at the same time there is some reason to hope.
"The police are lucky that they have evidence," Levin said, referring to the DNA.
Levin, who is the author of numerous books and articles on violent crime, said when victims are dumped in a wooded area like Amber was, police usually aren't left with much evidence, since the victims often were killed elsewhere.
"This is likely to be one of those murder cases where the killer didn't know the victim or was a passing acquaintance.
"Runaways (like Amber) present a tremendous opportunity to a stranger," Levin said.
Runaways are vulnerable, and killers prey upon that vulnerability, he said.
That's why child abduction and runaway experts say the first 24 to 72 hours after a disappearance is the most crucial.
To that end, agencies such as the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in recent years have upgraded efforts from handing out fliers and placing pictures on milk cartons to operating an Internet site.
Within 30 minutes of getting permission from a person in authority, center officials can download a picture on their missing children site.
With murders, the timeline is much shorter.
"The first eight hours are the most critical hours in solving a murder," said Wheeling police Deputy Chief Michael Hermes. "It's usually best to chase leads in the first eight to 24 hours."
Hermes knows the frustration of trying to solve a murder years down the line. There still is an unsolved murder in Wheeling from the early 1990s.
"There comes a time when you run out of leads and then it's less likely to be solved," he said. "Most murder cases that go beyond six months are difficult to solve unless you catch a break."
He said a lucky break could come in the form of someone talking in jail or in a bar or even the killer confessing because he can't handle the pressure of the secret.
Still, with every passing month, the trail grows colder in the search for Amber's killer, Levin said.
Even though police believe Amber's killer may have returned to the scene six months later to leave a memorial, they have little else to go on. Levin said by now the killer may have crossed state lines.
Most times, these cases are solved by luck, he said.
"If this case is solved, it will probably be because the killer makes another mistake," he said.
"The task force is fine, but it probably won't solve it."
Anyone with information on Amber should call the Amber Creek Task Force Hotline at (414) 636-3842.