The views and opinions expressed in Cold and
Missing are exclusively those of the hosts. All
parties mentioned are considered innocent until
proven guilty in a court of law. Cold and Missing
also contains adult themes and languages. Listener
discretion is advised. I'm your host, Ali McLaughlin
-Sulkowski. And I'm your co -host, Eli Sulkowski.
And this is Cold and Missing, where we cover
cold cases and missing person cases. Hello, everyone,
and welcome back to Cold and Missing. I'm your
host, Ali. And I'm your co -host Eli. Welcome
back everyone and welcome to a brand new year.
We are in the year of 2026 and we at Cold and
Missing hope that you had a lovely introduction
to your year. Yes, I hope everybody stayed safe
during the holidays, got to spend time with people
that they love, that the new year is off to an
incredible start, and yeah I just I wish nothing
but the best for our listeners out there. So
I hope You got everything you wanted for the
holidays, and you get everything you want in
the new year. Moving right along into this new
year, we are on a new episode, and we are on
episode 152. And we are on a cold case this week.
All right, let's get into it. Let's do it. So
just as a bit of a content warning at the top,
this case does involve a young person, and there
are some brief mentions of sexual assault. Today,
we are talking about the cold case of Lori Bolger.
and this takes place in June of 1976 in South
Elgin, Illinois. But first, a little bit about
Lori. Lori Bolger was 16 years old when our timeline
starts. She was born on April 23, 1960, and in
the summer of 1976, Lori was living with her
family at Sweetbriar Court in South Elgin, Illinois.
She was the third of four children with an older
sister, Tina, and two brothers, Lawrence and
Terrence. Her parents, James and Jane, were both
Navy veterans, and by all accounts, Lori was
deeply loved and cherished by her family. She
was known as the family comic. She just made
everybody laugh. Lori was well -liked at Larkin
High School in Elgin. People described her as
cool, the kind of person others naturally gravitated
towards. She loved crafts, especially around
the holidays, and Christmas was her favorite
time of year. Lori also loved being outside.
She loved the sunshine, being warm, swimming,
and outdoor sports. That summer of 1976, Lori
was learning how to drive. Normally, she would
have taken driver's education during the school
year, but life had been anything but normal for
Lori. Just days before our timeline begins. Lori's
father, James, died. He passed away on June 13,
1976, and Lori had spent much of the school year
at his side. A week before she vanished, she
buries her dad. Her aunts, Maury Bolger, will
later recall something that Lori said at her
father's funeral. Mary says, quote, We buried
Jim in the shade of a tree, but Lori loved the
sun and told us, When I die, you'll have to find
a grave out in the sun. And now a timeline of
events. Tuesday, June 22, 1976. That morning,
Lori's sister dropped her off at Larkin High
School, which at that time was located at 1475
Larkin Avenue in Elgin. Lori was there to make
up her missed coursework for her driver's education
class. She attended class that morning without
any issue. I believe class started at around
8 a .m. So at around 9, 10 a .m., Lori was seen
leaving the school, which tracks. A driving instructor
later reported seeing Lori outside the school
hitchhiking. And then a few minutes later, Lori
was seen at a donut shop about a block away.
A waitress recalled that Lori was alone when
she left the donut shop. We do know that Lori
had plans that morning. She was supposed to meet
her friends. Peggy and Mimi around 10 .20 a .m.
to go swimming at a spot known as the quarry.
Several people who knew Lori reported seeing
her walking between 9 a .m. and 9 .15, and based
on the route witnesses saw her on, it looked
like she was headed towards her home, presumably
to change into her swimsuit and then head over
to the quarry. According to reports, several
people saw Lori, people that she knew, that she
waved at, people waved at her, but... At around
9 .15, no one reported seeing Lori after this.
According to police, at around 10 .30 a .m.,
so this is just a little over an hour, about
an hour and 15 minutes since Lori was last seen
walking, a man driving past a field noticed a
girl lying in the grass. He assumed she was sunbathing
and continued driving. He didn't stop. Investigators
later believed this was likely Lori's body. Because
just... An hour later, at approximately 11 .25
a .m., plant workers driving onto the grounds
of the Elgin Township Estate Sewage Treatment
Plant discovered a body lying in the grass in
the same spot the earlier driver had seen a girl
lying in the grass. The location is near Randall
Road and Hopps Road, which at this time in 1976
was very isolated and surrounded by cornfields.
There are still fields there today, but it's
a little bit more populated. Two men doing property
maintenance that day were the ones who found
her. When they pulled up, they were shocked by
what they saw. Lori was lying on the grass. Her
jeans had been pulled down below her knees, and
her brown and white sweater was pushed up towards
her neck. She had been beaten to death. The two
men quickly jumped back in their truck and turned
around to head to find a phone to call the police.
Police arrived and quickly secured the scene.
They searched the area throughout the field,
but they didn't find any additional evidence,
according to reports. The next day, Wednesday,
June 23rd, Lori's sister was tasked with the
unimaginable. She had to identify her younger
sister at the hospital. She had heard a report
on the radio about an unidentified girl being
found, and Lori was missing. So she put the two
and two together and went to the hospital where
she found the heartbreaking news. Lori's autopsy
was also completed that day. The cause of death
was a fractured skull caused by a blunt object.
Investigators determined that Lori had been struck
three times in the forehead and four times in
the back of the head. Police said that the weapon
would be similar to a tire iron. Though, again,
no murder weapon was ever recovered, and they're
not exactly sure of what instrument was used,
but they likened it to a tire iron. Investigators
initially believed Lori had been sexually assaulted
due to the state that her body was found in.
However, it would take weeks for the results
to come back, but ultimately the autopsy determined
that she was not sexually assaulted. For police,
this is a difficult case. This is actually the
second murder of a teenage girl in that area
for 1976. In February, 13 -year -old Rose Whitney
had been found shot to death. She was killed
the same day she disappeared. Her case, like
Lori's, remains unsolved. Police have never linked
these two cases or stated that they could be
connected, but media at the time... was making
connections between the two cases, or at least
pointing it out that two teenage girls had been
murdered, which was strange for the area. On
Thursday, June 24th, so it's been two days since
Lori's murder, police asked the public for help.
Investigators believed Lori had been picked up
by a car when she was walking home because she
had been hitchhiking. They believe she possibly
could have been picked up near the intersection
of McLean Avenue and bypass Route 40 in Elgin.
It's unclear what led police to this specific
intersection. If a witness did see her get in
the car, that's never revealed. But this is really
the only spot that police mention as the possible
point of abduction. On Friday, June 25th, so
three days since Lori's murder, And for the second
time that month, the Bulger family gathered to
bury someone they loved. Lori was laid to rest
near her father. He had been buried in the shade,
but for Lori, they chose a spot in the sun just
as she had wanted. On June 30th, so it's been
eight days since Lori's murder, police announced
that they wanted to question three men in connection
with Lori's death, emphasizing that the three
men were not suspects. But they were very interested
in talking to them at the time. It's unclear
if police ever found these three men that they
wanted to talk to. However, in September of 1976,
so it's been about three months since Lori's
murder, four men and one teenager are arrested
in connection to Lori's death. James, who is
21, and Robert, who is 18 at this time, were
indicted on murder charges. Both of them pled
not guilty. And then John, who is 18, and Gary,
who is 22, were indicted on obstruction of justice
charges. There's also a 16 -year -old who was
indicted on an obstruction of justice charge,
but we don't learn his name since he is a minor.
The four men, though, were residents of Chicago.
Police learned about these men after they were
arrested the day after Lori's murder on suspicion
of stealing a car battery. While in custody,
evidence found in the vehicle prompted investigators
to consider them in Lori's murder. Inside the
car, police alleged they found a hammer with
human bloodstains. The blood that was found on
the hammer was the same type as Lori's, but they
don't have DNA testing, so it's not a firm match.
It's just the same blood type that Lori had.
Police claimed that there was additional evidence
as well, though that's never made public. Despite
these arrests, police still say that they have
no motive in the case. A few months later, in
December, of 1976, so it's been about five and
a half months since Lori's murder. And the new
Kane County State's attorney, Gene Armantrout,
requested that the murder charges against Jayme
and Robert be dismissed. Both men passed polygraph
tests. Armantrout later said, quote, that was
all I needed because I didn't think they did
it either. Additional evidence supported their
innocence. Witnesses placed the men elsewhere
at the time of the murder. A mechanic stated
that the car in question was in his shop during
the time that Lori was killed. It was also determined
that Lori's wounds could not have been caused
by the type of hammer found in the car. So with
that, all the charges were dismissed. Unfortunately,
when these charges get dismissed, it seems like
Lori's case really stalls out. I didn't really
see any updates after this about Lori's case
or efforts that the police were doing to bring
about a resolution. The next real big update
that I found came in September of 2025 when the
Elgin Police Department, they started their own
podcast, which is called Somebody Knows Something,
and they cover Lori's case. But again, there's
no real updates or any new information from the
podcast or where the case stands today. They
don't give us any of that information. So with
that, that is truly all we know about the murder
of Lori Bulger in June of 1976. So if you know
anything about the murder of Lori Bulger, please
call the Elgin Police Department at 847 -289
-2653. So that is the case of Lori Bulger. Just
to talk about Lori from the top here, we heard
so much about who she was and that she was crafty
and outdoorsy and maybe a little bit of a class
clown. Very well liked and had friendships and
strong family connections to her siblings and
was already facing such a difficult moment after
losing her father. She sounded so familiar to
me. She sounded like someone I could have easily
went to school with. She sounded familiar in
a way that she kind of sounded like my sisters.
And obviously, you know, I didn't know this person,
but it felt like I did the moment you started
talking about her and who she was and what her
life was like. Yeah, and we'll have photos of
Lori up on our Instagram. And I think Lori is
one of those people where you can kind of capture
a little bit of their personality in photos and
like kind of feel it radiating off. And I think
Lori's pictures do exactly that. You kind of
feel her fun energy. And yeah, if I was in high
school with Lori, I would want to be her friend.
Like she sounds really cool and a lot of fun
to be around. Timeline, you know, it being 1976
and her being 16 for this time period, hitchhiking
was very normal. And if you follow true crime
cases specifically around this time period, you
hear it pretty often in stories. Very normal,
even for in the Midwest, like where she was.
But I'm aware and I think probably our listeners
are that. This was kind of a normal thing to
be happening for that time period. Oh, yeah.
It seemed very part of Lori's world. Like, she
got dropped off in the morning by her sister.
And then, you know, after her class was done,
the class only took an hour, she was going to
head back home and then meet up with her friends
at the swimming spot. And, yeah, it seemed like
she would have. done this before hitchhike until
she got a ride or until she just walked back
finally so yeah extremely normal for this time
but in 2026 you hear of a 16 year old hitchhiking
and immediately you get on edge yeah so to to
start off this timeline I think it sounds completely
normal for that moment in time and for how she
was navigating her life it sounded like a normal
day her being dropped off to pick up some missed
schoolwork for driver's ed, and continuing on
with her day. It sounds all normal to me. But
shortly after the timeline starts, it also ends,
and the normalcy about it ends. There are people
who see her hitchhiking, they spot her around
town, and then her body is found. It's a little
shocking to know that this happened in the middle
of the day, even with it being in an isolated
rural area. It's still a spot that's visited
by maintenance workers with some regularity.
To me, it feels like she was attacked in an impulsive
moment of opportunity for whoever her killer
was. Yeah, the timeline is very tight from the
moment she leaves the high school and is seen
walking to... ultimately when her body is found
just hours later. She's last seen at 9 .15, and
the workers arrive and discover her body just
before 11 .30 a .m., so very tight window. And
I would agree that this appears to be a crime
of opportunity without having, like, more evidence
or more connections to lean on. saw Lori hitchhiking
in a vulnerable position, could get them in her
car, and then took off. So it's a very tight
timeline. And considering how many people saw
Lori, like, kind of walking and heading home,
it's surprising. That we don't have, that we
know of, a direct witness that saw her get in
a car. So we don't know what type of car she
might have gotten into. Make, model, color, anything.
We have no idea besides a general intersection.
Just quickly pivoting back to the discovery of
Lori's body. I think it's worth mentioning that
even though Lori was not sexually assaulted,
like ultimately that's what was ruled, the state...
that her body was found in, to me, still screams
that this was a sexually motivated crime. I don't
really understand why her body would, particularly
her clothes, why they would be in those positions
if the crime was not sexually motivated. But
the removal of the clothes into those positions
was for a reason. And it makes the discovery
of her and knowing that she wasn't assaulted
that much more confusing and equally horrifying.
Yeah, it does still feel sexually motivated due
to the state of her clothes when they found her
body. Without knowing, you know, the true perpetrator,
we can't know, like, was this just the act was
interrupted by a car, you know, something happened,
he got spooked, he ran. Or was Lori fighting?
And that's just how it ended. It's obviously
all speculation, and we have no idea. But I would
agree that there was sexual motivation behind
this act. As the investigation begins and there's
media coverage of what's happening, just in Elgin
in general, it makes sense to me that... The
other case about the young girl whose life was
taken, that she was murdered, it makes sense
to me that as media coverage began on Lori's
case and the investigation started, that the
two cases were possibly connected. And the other
case that I'm talking about is the one that happened
relatively close in... Lori's timeline, the girl
who was shot and killed, it makes sense to me
that they were connected by both the public and
media. I know that law enforcement wasn't making
those connections, but really, I think at the
time it would be hard not to publicly make those
connections. Yeah, and Rose Whitney, that's the
other girl's name. That is a case that I'm interested
in looking into. I discovered it looking into
Lori's case. But yeah, you know, if I lived in
Elgin or South Elgin at this time, I would be
nervous to think that is there somebody on the
loose that's, you know, going after teenage girls.
Their cases are different. You know, Lori was
ultimately killed due to a blunt instrument.
beating from the blunt instrument. The other
girl was shot, but where they are similar, they
were very quick timelines, meaning that they
were both killed that same day. And I believe
it makes complete sense that the residents, the
media, like, looked at these two with a connection.
Now, moving on to the men and teenager that were
charged with this crime initially. I don't really
know. There was a lot of information and I don't
know what to make of it all. I don't understand
how the connection to the car was made in the
first place. And to me, it sounds like law enforcement
was really looking for someone to, you know,
to take the fall for this crime and maybe these
people. kind of fit the profile or their car
did or what was in their car did but ultimately
it sounded like a stretch to me and we know that
those charges were dropped so um I don't know
the uh this whole case is so heartbreaking and
very hard to digest I don't really know what
to make of how things ended and how things are
going now I I'm grateful that you brought this
case to our attention, but I'm kind of at a loss
of what to think now. Yeah, you know, the four
men and then the teenager, they came on police's
radar the day after Lori's murder because they
were accused of stealing a car battery. And then
blood in their car led them to look at... Lori's
case, and that's why that all happened. And part
of those arrests, too, could have been politically
motivated. The state attorney who eventually
dismissed the charges. Said that, you know, this
was done on purpose by the person right before
him who, you know, would have been voted out
of office like just weeks before that. That it
was all by the former state attorney to put this
big mess and give him a case that he could never
prosecute. So there was suggestion that it was
just politically motivated to like kind of give
this like. bad case to the new state attorney.
I'm not entirely sure. I didn't go down that
rabbit hole very far, but it's a murder case.
Somebody's murder case should never be used for
any political reason. There should only be concrete
answers and justice. There should be no games
played, no runarounds, no this and that, like
not with this, not with a murder, not with somebody's
life. Don't play all that. Like, it makes me
feel nuts because it wastes time and energy behind
the case. Like, right after all those charges
were dismissed, it just feels like all the energy
behind Lori's murder just flattened, just nothing.
Like, people didn't seem to demand answers in
the same way. So I really want answers in Lori's
case. I think. that there could be answers in
Lori's case. I think somebody does know something.
Somebody knows what happened to her, and I want
energy behind her case, and I want people asking
about her. So again, if you know anything about
the murder of Lori Bulger in June of 1976, please
call the Elgin Police Department at 847 -289
-2653. And we will have pictures of Lori on our
Instagram at coldandmissing where we also post
other... missing person cases or other updates
in cold cases just throughout the country. So
it's a great resource for just general true crimes
in cold cases and missing people. So please,
if you're not following us already, follow us
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unexpectedly, we'll always post updates on our
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as well. But that is all I have for you today.
Thank you so much for listening to Cold and Missing.
I'm your host, Ali. And I'm your co -host,
Eli. Have a good week and stay safe, y 'all.
Stay safe, y 'all.