The Spectator concludes.By Greg Peerbolte

As the 1978 Joliet Herald News series reignited the Molly Zelko story, a newspaper landed on top of a rural Coal City, Illinois bar run by Dennis Enrietta. Enrietta’s immediate fascination with the case led to chance encounter with another alleged eyewitness to Molly’s burial, which established an alternate theory on her whereabouts. Enrietta would…

The year is 1978, over two decades since Molly's disappearance. A fateful move brings Lynne Lichtenauer and John Whiteside together, and Molly's story back into the headlines. Joliet Herald-News Reporters Whiteside & Cain venture into unorthodox - even paranormal - means to flush out leads. Their chase for answers climaxes in an intense hypnosis se…

Episode 5: “Aunt Molly.” Though Molly has since become a larger than life folk hero in Joliet, she was a daughter, sister and an aunt to Jim Zelko and Arlene Reivers. Cousins Jim and Arlene share their childhood memories of Molly and the reaction of the Zelko family in the wake of her disappearance. The devastated Zelkos directly appealed directly …

A bizarre break in the Molly Zelko occurs when it is revealed that Robert F. Kennedy traveled to Joliet to search for her after a confession was made from a syndicate hood named Jimmy Rini, aka “The Green Hornet.” Kennedy was then the chief counsel to the McClellan Committee, which was investigating links between union labor and its leadership unde…

Francis “The Thin Man” Curry was the syndicate’s manager of gambling operations in Joliet and Will County. His path to leadership was a bloody one, and probably by no coincidence was closely aligned with local political forces in Joliet. Curry was documented as having a particularly close relationship with Paul Ricca, the co-chairman of the Chicago…

Episode 2: “Speculation” Perhaps no one held more influence over Molly Zelko than the Spectator’s owner and her longtime mentor Bill McCabe. Almost a decade before Molly disappeared, McCabe was a powerful political force in Joliet and wielded The Spectator to influence public opinion. He had previously served as an Illinois State Senator, Will Coun…

On the morning of September 26, 1957, Joliet Newspaper Editor Molly Zelko disappears. All that remains are two black, high-heeled shoes tossed carelessly near her 1955 Chrysler Sedan parked outside of her home. Through her newspaper, the weekly Joliet Spectator, Molly had been aggressively investigating gambling rackets in Joliet, chiefly pinball, …