Search For Serial Killer’s Victim Continues, Still No Body

JOLIET, IL — For a third straight day, police searched a house on Barber Lane for the remains of a man who disappeared more than 41 years ago.

A law enforcement source said the Rolling Meadows police were leading the search for Michael Mansfield, a Lincoln College student who vanished on New Year’s Eve 1975.

Mansfield’s roommate, Russell Smrekar, who was later convicted of murdering a Lincoln man and his pregnant wife, reportedly confessed on his deathbed to killing Mansfield.

Before he died at Menard Correctional Center in October 2011, Smrekar, who was from Joliet, also reportedly confessed to killing a second Lincoln woman.

When he vanished, Mansfield was supposed to testify against Smrekar, who had been accused of stealing from other students in their dorm.

Months later, Smrekar got caught stealing steaks from a Kroger supermarket in Lincoln. The manager of the Kroger, Jay Fry, was a witness for the prosecution. He was the other man Smrekar killed. Smrekar also murdered Fry’s wife, Robin.

The woman Smrekar reportedly confessed on his deathbed to killing, Ruth Martin, was another witness in the theft case.

Rolling Meadows police Cmdr. Thomas Gadomski has failed to return numerous calls for comment on the case. On Friday, the Rolling Meadows Police Department refused to release reports relating to Mansfield’s disappearance.

A police source said the searchers were looking for Mansfield’s remains in the crawlspace of the house on Barber Lane.

On Friday evening, Will County Coroner Patrick O’Neil said his office had yet to be contacted about the recovery of any human body parts.