MISSING
Heather Dawn Mullins Zimmerman, 1997
Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance :
Missing Since: May 26, 1997 from Gifford, Illinois
Classification: Endangered Missing
Date Of Birth: October 17, 1977
Age: 19 years old
Height and Weight: 5'6; 115 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Blonde hair; green eyes. Heather has a tattoo of three red roses with a black stem on her left outer ankle. She is right-handed.
Details of Disappearance:
Heather's husband, Michael Zimmerman, was enlisted with the us Marines in Japan. He had come home on leave for a short time. But, since they were separated at the time, Heather resided with her father and I in Gifford, Illinois.
Shortly after Heather's disappearance, Michael went AWOL, was picked up and returned to Japan to serve jail time.
Heather was last seen on May 26, 1997. She took a soda from the refrigerator and departed our home at approximately 8:30 PM. Heather was wearing a medium-sized Sears' navy / chambray shirt, size 9 stone-washed bellbottom jeans and size 9 - 9 1/2 black St. Michael shoes at the time of her disappearance. Heather may have visited a friend in rural Rantoul, Illinois that night.
Authorities received information that she was dropped off near our residence during the early morning hours of May 27, but it was not confirmed. Heather has never been heard from again.
Heather left all of her personal belongings at home. Her purse had been stolen shortly before her disappearance. She was not carrying any credit cards, cash or identification as a result. Heather was employed as a clerk at Casey's store in 1997. She never retrieved her paycheck from the business.
Extensive searches of the area produced no clues as to Heather's whereabouts. It is uncharacteristic of her to leave without warning. She did not have access to a vehicle at the time of her disappearance. There have been no arrests in connection with Heather's case, which remains unsolved.
Her family and I miss her terribly, and are determined to find out what happened to our beautiful Heather.
An unidentified man called WCIA-Channel 3 television and said that Heather's body could be found in a borrow pit north of Gifford.
Uniformed deputies, investigators, a search dog and a helicopter from the Illinois Department of Transportation launched a search for my daughter.They did not locate her.
"We just decided there's so much area and so much rugged ground that we needed to get more people and more coordination," Sheriff's Sgt. Kent Fletcher said.
Investigators have dove in the pit, and sonared that pit. They have flown in, taken dogs. Every time they brought the search and rescue dogs, they've hit," said Ford County Sheriff Ralph Henson,( now deceased ) who said authorities were acting on the tip that Heather's body may be in there.
Henson said five different tracking dogs have alerted them that there might be human remains in the pit.
The work is difficult because the pit is deep and divers sometimes can't see more than six inches in front of their faces, he said, due to stirred up silt. "The divers have to use powerful lights or just grope," he said. "It's almost 100 feet from the ground to the bottom of the pit."
Henson said the water is currently about 67 feet deep although it has been as high as 90 feet.
Earlier he entertained the notion of pumping water out of the pit to lower it enough to allow divers to search deeper. However, he has since said he's putting that idea on hold while police check other leads.
"Thirty-three feet is the magic number for a diver. If they go farther than that, they need to decompress," he said.
"We would have to get the pumps from the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and procure power for the pumps. We'll pump the water into the Big Four drainage ditch. We've made the clearance with the Environmental Protection Agency and (Department of) Conservation already and we've located the equipment. We just have not made the decision to go yet.
This pit was never drained probably because of the cost involved.
Heather has a
sister Missy and a brother Matt that both miss her
very much and would also like to find out what
happened to her. Heather and Missy are only 17 months
apart.. so you know they shared alot in their lives.
Missy is serving in the US Navy at the present time
and trying to cope with this the best she can. Matt is
12 and has a hard time understanding. But their hearts
still hurt for Heather.
Heather was a gentle spirit who loved all animals.
She is sadly missed by her entire family. We will not give up until we have the answers to her disappearance and those responsible, are held accountable.
Investigating Agency :
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Champaign County Sheriff's Office
217-384-1213
Or Email Heather's Mother at
Source Information
Missing Persons Cold Case Network Case File: 1413F90
The Garden Of Missing Children Society
The News-Gazette
Read news articles about Heather in The News-Gazette
CLICK above to read news articles.
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