Overview

🔹 What happened — February 2, 2008

On the morning of February 2, 2008, a man posing as a delivery person entered the Lane Bryant women’s clothing store in the Brookside Marketplace in Tinley Park, Illinois (a Chicago suburb). He forced six women—two employees and four customers—into a back room at gunpoint. He tied their hands and then shot all six. Five women, including Jennifer Lynn “Jeni” Van Bishop, were killed execution-style; one woman survived by playing dead after a bullet grazed her neck.

Detailed Case Breakdown

This is a unique case that consisted of 5 people who tragically lost their lives in a multiple homicide that is still onging:

Other victims (and links to their pages):

Carrie Chiuso
Rhoda McFarland
Connie R Woolfolk
Sarah T Szafranski
Jennifer L Bishop

🔹 What happened — February 2, 2008

On the morning of February 2, 2008, a man entered the Lane Bryant women’s clothing store in the Brookside Marketplace in Tinley Park, Illinois (a Chicago suburb) claiming to be a delivery person. He forced six women — two employees and four customers — into a back room at gunpoint. He tied their hands and then shot all six. Five women, including Sarah T. Szafranski, were killed execution-style; one woman survived by playing dead after a bullet grazed her neck.

🔹 Sarah T. Szafranski

– Name: Sarah T. Szafranski, age 26, of Tinley Park, Illinois.
– She was one of the five women murdered in the Lane Bryant shooting.
– Sarah was remembered by family and friends as a caring and ambitious young woman with a bright future ahead.
– At the time of the attack, she had stopped in the store to shop and was known locally for her involvement in community activities.
– Sarah was engaged and looking forward to starting her life with her fiancé.

🔹 The Crime

– The shooter tied up the victims, sexually assaulted them, and then shot them in the back of the head.
– He fled the scene before police arrived, and the case quickly became a major investigation in the Chicago area.
– The lone survivor helped police develop a description that was later turned into a composite sketch of the suspect.

🔹 Investigation and Status

– Despite thousands of tips and evidence collected, including the suspect’s voice recorded on a brief 911 call placed by one of the women inside the store, no suspect has ever been arrested.
– Investigators have released various sketches and 3D composite images of the suspect over the years in hopes of generating new leads.
– A reward has been offered for information leading to an arrest, and police continue to treat the case as active.
– The motive remains unclear, though police originally believed it began as an armed robbery that escalated into sexual assault and murder.

🔹 Legacy

Sarah and the other four women — Carrie Chiuso, Rhoda McFarland, Connie Woolfolk, and Jennifer Bishop — are remembered annually by their communities, and the case remains one of the most notorious unsolved mass murders in the region.

🕵️‍♂️ Additional Info
There’s a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to an arrest in this case.
Authorities have released sketches and an audio snippet of the suspect’s voice from the original 911 call on the Tinley Park police website to help generate new leads.

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Facebook Post:

Someone knows something.
It’s been 18 years since five women were murdered inside a suburban Lane Bryant store. The case remains unsolved.

The victims were Carrie Chiuso, Rhoda McFarland, Connie R. Woolfolk, Sarah T. Szafranski, and Jennifer L. Bishop.

February 2nd, 2008, Tinley Park Lane Bryant Crime Scene- Photo Courtesy of the Chicago Tribune