Unsolved homicides: Carol Rofstad

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NORMAL — Around 50 college students gathered Thursday night on Illinois State University’s campus to rally around survivors of sexual assault, sexual harassment and domestic violence and march to “Take Back the Night.”

The movement, beginning in the 1970s and growing to a global presence, is an annual event that supports people who have historically been victims of violence while traveling after dusk.

NORMAL — For nearly 50 years, the murder of Illinois State University student Carol Rofstad has remained unsolved. The creators of a new podcast are hoping their work will lead to answers — and justice.

Rofstad, a beautiful 21-year-old Illinois State University student from the Chicago suburb of Elk Grove Village, began walking back to her Delta Zeta sorority house after an evening out with her best friend on Dec. 22, 1975. Twelve hours later, she was found unconscious, badly beaten and with a fractured skull, outside the house at 602 S. Fell Ave., Normal.

NORMAL — Eighteen years separate the unsolved homicides of Jennifer Lockmiller and Carol Rofstad and without new leads, the deaths will remain placeholders on a list of cold cases reviewed annually by Normal police detectives.

Rofstad was a 21-year-old Illinois State University student when she was found beaten unconscious Dec. 23, 1975, outside an ISU sorority house. She died a day later from blows police think were inflicted with an 18-inch piece of railroad tie found near her body.

Carol Rofstad, who was 21 when she was killed, lived in Normal, IL while attending Illinois State University. She was found beaten unconscious about noon December 23, 1975, outside her sorority house at 602 S. Fell Street. The suspected murder weapon, an 18-inch piece of railroad tie, was found nearby. Rofstad wasn't found until roughly 12 hours after the attack. She died Christmas Eve as a result of head injuries.

Two men, one of whom carried a club, were seen between 10 p.m. and 10:15 p.m. on December 22, 1975. Both were white males and between the ages of 18 and 25.

Anyone with information on the Terry Punke case should contact the Woodford County Sheriff's Department at 309-467-2375 or Crime Stoppers at 309-673-9000.

But his case isn't the only one where questions remain. 

BLOOMINGTON -- While the investigation into the massacre of five members of the Gee family moves into its sixth day, there are some Central Illinois homicides that have remained unsolved for years.

Among the more recent cases that remain unsolved is the beating death of a 7-year-old Streator boy. Dalton Mesarchik disappeared while waiting outside his family's home for a church van to pick him up. His body was found the next day, March 27, 2003, at a boat launch on the Vermilion River in rural South Streator.

NORMAL - Investigators with a college in Cicero hope to uncover evidence that would solve the brutal murder of an Illinois State University student more than 32 years ago. "I think the case is eminently solvable," said George Seibel, director of Morton College's Institute for Cold Case Solution.

"And as long as the truth comes out, it doesn't matter who does it," he said.

BLOOMINGTON - Three decades passed before a trial in the 1968 death of Coleen Uban. Seven-year-old Dalton Mesarchik's 2003 beating death has not been solved.

Normal police's investigation into the 1975 death of Carol Rofstad has been suspended, pending more evidence.