Molly Zelko Mob Mystery: Joliet Museum Seeks Answers From FBI In Washington, D.C.

JOLIET, IL — Joliet's crusading investigative newspaper editor Molly Zelko remains one of only a handful of Illinois journalists murdered in connection with their livelihood, and for nearly seven decades, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has kept an airtight lid on its investigation into her Sept. 25, 1957, disappearance.

In the middle of the night, Zelko vanished from her driveway in the 400 block of Joliet's Buell Avenue.

But in the wake of the President Donald Trump's executive order releasing thousands of pages of FBI files pertaining to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, brother Robert F. Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., the Joliet Area Historical Museum has decided to make another run at obtaining the FBI's unredacted files for its Molly Zelko investigation.

Make no mistake, Joliet historical museum director Greg Peerbolte already has a thick file of FBI reports, obtained by a Chicago newspaper reporter more than 30 years ago. However, roughly 75 percent of those files are redacted with black markers, Peerbolte showed Joliet Patch's editor during Wednesday's interview.

Given that the Zelko investigation is even older than the cases of both Kennedys and King, Peerbolte said he is optimistic the FBI will grant his museum's Freedom of Information Act request, which was submitted in April.

However, it may take several weeks, perhaps months, before Peerbolte learns whether the new administration of FBI Director Kash Patel will grant him access to its unredacted Zelko files.

The following contains Joliet Patch's question and answer interview with Peerbolte from Wednesday:

Joliet Patch: "There's been new developments as far as doing additional research, angles that you guys are still trying to get to the bottom of, perhaps?"

Peerbolte: "Lonny (Cain) and I did a presentation for the public library in Darien and afterward we were talking. We had a good crowd at it ... and we got to talking about the JFK files that were recently released and is the time right to ask the FBI about the Molly Zelko files? The museum has since put in a FOIA request to the FBI to obtain those files. We're hoping that those will be obtained with much less redactions than in the original ones we have from the 1990s. We had a FOIA request, mid-90s, by John Conroy, who was a reporter, and also former Congressman George Sangmeister. And as you can see from the files, heavily redacted, about 75 percent redacted. But at the time those were FOIA'd in the mid-1990s, you were maybe not even 40 years out ... so there was a lot the FBI couldn't tell us. We're hopeful with this new request that we will glean a little more info, perhaps not solve the mystery entirely, but are able to follow a few more leads than we've been able to follow in the past."

Joliet Patch: "In your mind, what would be reasons why they may have redacted and what are you hoping are some of the items that were written that may come to light by getting unredacted or clean versions of the FBI reports?"

Peerbolte: "We also did a search on the FBI website in what's called their vault. So these are files they have already released publicly and anyone can go view. As part of that, there was an extensive list of deaths and Molly Zelko is included in that. She was declared legally dead several years after the disappearance and the tag that the FBI has on this we found out is La Cosa Nostra. So even the FBI thought this was mob-related, and they have it in their files.

"You can surmise they're probably protecting confidential sources. There's other investigations happening within the course of this. Things like identity of their agents, they want to protect, and resources. We saw there is a compelling note that says 'special agent Richard Auerbach advises Molly Zelko is', and then the rest of the sentence is redacted. So that was a pretty compelling little note in the file. We'd like to see what's under that black ink for sure. But the great takeaway from those files is J. Edgar Hoover was very involved in this. He was sending airtels with very specific direction about leads to follow, so there was not passive involvement on his part. When you consider in 1957 how powerful J. Edgar Hoover was, being in his position, how many things the FBI had going, that he was very engaged on this, to me, is very compelling too. Because you can't read much, you want to know why, and you want to read between the lines and find out why was the guy at the top of the FBI really personally involved in this case?"

Joliet Patch: "In your mind, what potentially do you think could be blacked out or wiped out?"

Peerbolte: "I tend to believe she was killed, and I tend to believe that because both the living and passed away family members, they all think she was killed too. I kind of choose to believe what the family believes, and that the FBI has kind of labeled this a Cosa Nostra mafia-related thing. I still think you have the regime change that we talk about in the podcast with Sam Giancana emerging as the new leader of the Chicago Outfit at the time. And the timing of that seemed to fall in line. But it's a great story about courage. It's a great story about independent journalism and why we still need it and what the price can be. I end every talk talking about Molly the same way, pointing out she's only one of three reporters to ever be labeled as killed in action. One of those was Elijah Lovejoy, legendary crusader, another one was Jake Lingle, who was very mobbed up and got a little too close to the fire ... but Molly was the only woman. And still has not been found nor do we have the answers. It's just a critically important story, and I'm sure people will ask, why are we chasing this? Why does this still matter? It matters a lot. Any unsolved missing person case matters. To ostensibly have a reporter killed in the line of duty, I think, it requires some answers. It's important."

Related Joliet Patch coverage:

• Molly Zelko: My Thoughts On Joliet's True-Crime Podcast
• Who Killed Molly Zelko? Podcast Explores Enduring Mystery
• Rudy Guajardo Owns Home Of Joliet's Most Famous Missing Person
• Is Molly Zelko's Body Buried Across From Stryker Ave. High Rise?
• Is Molly Zelko's Body About To Be Found On Stryker Avenue?