Vikki L. Vukelich
Vikki, circa 1991
- Missing Since 02/23/1991
- Missing From Glenwood, Illinois
- Classification Endangered Missing
- Sex Female
- Race White
- Date of Birth 01/06/1959 (65)
- Age 32 years old
- Height and Weight 5'1 - 5'4, 110 - 120 pounds
- Clothing/Jewelry Description Possibly a long-sleeved shirt, sweatpants, socks, gold hoop earrings, diamond rings, ruby earrings, a gold necklace with a cross pendant, and a gold wedding band on her left ring finger.
- Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Blonde hair, blue eyes. Vikki wears clear contact lenses or eyeglasses with plastic frames, but she did not have them with her when she disappeared. She has a Cesarean section scar on her abdomen and her upper and lower teeth are crooked. Her left ear is pierced three times and her right ear five times. Vikki's maiden name is Cihon. Her first name may be spelled "Vicki" and her last name "Vukkelich."
Details of Disappearance
Vikki's husband, David Vukelich, says he last saw her on February 23, 1991 in their home in the 500 block of Tulip Drive in Glenwood, Illinois. David stated he and Vikki argued about going to a party the night of her disappearance. He went to bed and she slept on the couch.
When David woke up the following morning, there was an empty glass of wine in the living room and Vikki was gone. $8,000 was also missing from the home, but Vikki left behind her clothes, shoes, purse, driver's license, eyeglasses and contact lenses, and her two daughters, age four and twelve.
David and Vikki married in 1986. They had a troubled relationship and the police had been called to their house several times and arrested both of them due to domestic disputes. All the charges were dismissed each time.
Shortly before her disappearance, Vikki told her friends she was going to divorce David. She had filed for divorce twice previously, in 1988 and 1989, but never went through with the whole process. She had dropped the divorce suits because she was not sure she could support herself financially without David's help, but she took a second job shortly before her disappearance and told her friends she was "really going to do it this time."
David did not report his wife missing; a friend of Vikki's filed a report on February 28. Neighbors stated that shortly after Vikki vanished, David did cement work in his driveway and garage and removed carpeting from the home. He told Vikki's older daughter not to go into the basement.
Two months after his wife's disappearance, David filed for divorce. During the proceedings, he testified that Vikki frequently left him without warning for periods of time and would then return with no explanation as to where she had been.
The couple's divorce was finalized in August 1991. David remarried in 1994, but his second wife died, apparently of breast cancer, a short time later. He remarried again in 2002. He moved out of his and Vikki's home seven months after her disappearance and now lives in Dyer, Indiana.
In 2003, authorities searched the house the Vukeliches lived in when Vikki vanished. They also exhumed David's second wife's body to look for signs of foul play. It is not known what, if any, evidence was discovered as a result of these efforts. He has not cooperated with the police in Vikki's case and has refused to be interviewed.
Vikki's older daughter was interviewed by investigators and media at that time and stated that while her mother occasionally left the family home for short periods after fighting with David, she always kept in contact with her children.
Although David is considered the prime suspect in Vikki's disappearance, he has never been charged in connection with it. Vikki's case remains unsolved. She owned a beauty parlor in South Holland, Illinois in 1991.
Investigating Agency
- Glenwood Police Department 708-758-6071
Source Information
Updated 5 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated March 21, 2019; details of disappearance updated.