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Butts Left Behind by a Killer Solves a Cold-Blooded Murder
A young college student, Susan Schumake, was found raped and murdered, but her killer left behind vital clues to his identity.
On the 17th of August 1981, Southern Illinois University Carbondale student Susan Kathleen Schumake was found murdered on a pedestrian path near campus. Her broken body had been beaten and raped, then left discarded in the woods. It would be almost 25 years full of twists and turns and several suspects later before Susan would find justice.
Susan, lifeless and battered, was discovered tossed alongside a local off-campus trail called Ho Chi Minh, which has since been closed to public use. The trail was often used by students to get to and from classes.
The 21-year-old from Chicago Heights was attending SIUC and studying radio-television. She was working at the radio station on campus in Wright Hall and that evening she left work at 6 p.m., taking the shortcut through the wooded area, on her way to meet up with a friend for dinner at the Student Center.
She never showed up.
Her roommates reported her missing at 3:05 the next morning when she didn’t arrive home.
