Cindy Zarzycki /BODY FOUND 7/9/08

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Police Find 1986 Cold Case Body
Convicted Killer Leads Police To Girl He Killed In 1986

POSTED: 1:58 pm EDT July 9, 2008
UPDATED: 11:17 pm EDT July 9, 2008

Police say they have unearthed the body of a 13-year-old girl, missing since 1986.

Eastpointe police Corporal Martin Genter Sr. says searchers found the remains of Cindy Zarzycki on Wednesday evening.

Genter says his police chief told him the body was found where her killer, Arthur Nelson Ream, led police after being temporarily released from prison earlier Wednesday.

The body was found in Macomb County's Macomb Township about 15 miles northeast of Eastpointe, where Cindy was last seen alive on April 20, 1986.

The remains found in a shallow grave with what the 13-year-old girl had with her at the time, including her favorite denim purse and some mixed tapes.

Eastpointe Police Chief Michael Lauretti said the family knew it was their loved one.

"They did identify the purse and the contents,” said Lauretti. “They said the cassettes that were in the purse, they believe were 100% hers.”

Her family said today their prayers have been answered and she’s finally come home.

“22 years is a long time,” said her tearful brother, Edward Zarzycki.

He told Local 4 his childhood ended the day his sister disappeared and he still has things he wanted to tell her.

"I'm sorry that I wasn't there,” Edward Zarzycki said. “I love her and I know she’ll be looking down on us and will be with us forever.”

“I just want to tell everybody that has been praying for us, thank you,” said Cindy’s sister, Connie Johnson. “God has answered our prayers--22 years we've been praying and praying. This may not have been the answer we wanted but God was watching out."

Eastpointe police Inspector John Calabrese told Local 4 that Ream told police Tuesday where he buried Zarzycki's body.

"We offered him (Ream) nothing and promised us nothing. He basically just wanted to clear his conscience," said Calabrese.

Police said Ream drew them a map of the 22-acre area and said they will find a four-foot grave near the Clinton River. Police have suspected the area for a while because Ream used to keep bees on the property.

Judge Mary Chrzanowski, who presided over the murder trial, signed the writ to let him out.

Then a handcuffed Ream was taken out of a northern Macomb County Correctional Facility Wednesday to lead search crews to the body.

“He (Ream) didn’t walk around as though he had murdered someone and buried someone in this spot,” said Macomb County Prosecutor, Eric Smith. “He walked around as though we were looking for a lost piece of jewelry.”

Ream spent about an hour with authorities before he was returned to the correctional facility.

Zarzycki's aunt, Karen Hoeft was at the search scene. She said their family needs to have closure and plans on having a funeral when the body is found.

A sobbing Hoeft said, "My mother always looked for her for years, and she died a nine years ago."

A jury on June 18 found Ream guilty of first-degree murder.

The 59-year-old is accused of meeting with Zarzycki on the day she disappeared at a Dairy Queen on Nine Mile Road on the pretense of taking her to his son's surprise birthday party.

Ream will be sentenced July 22 to life in prison without parole.

He currently is serving a 15-year prison sentence on an unrelated molestation charge involving a 14-year-old girl.
_________________
"Sell Crazy Someplace Else. We're all stocked up here."

Line from the movie As Good As It Gets

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PUBLISHED: Thursday, July 10, 2008
Killer points police to teen he murdered 22 years ago

'We can move on with our lives' family says

By Jameson Cook and Gordon Wilczynski
Macomb Daily Staff Writers

The remains of a 13-year-old Eastpointe girl who was murdered 22 years ago were found by police late Wednesday in Macomb Township woods, after her killer revealed the burial site.

Cindy Zarzycki's family members - who Wednesday identified a blue denim purse and its contents found with her body - expressed relief and thankfulness that Cindy's killer, Arthur N. Ream, 59, finally made the disclosure.

"God answered our prayers," Cindy's older sister, Connie Johnson of Howell, told reporters shortly after police informed the family about the find.

"This is relief, you can't understand the amount of relief this is," said Cindy's father, Ed, of Lexington.

"We get to bury her on our own terms instead of some criminal in the middle of the night," said Ed Zarzycki Jr., Cindy's younger brother who was the last family member to see her alive, as he held back tears. "Now that we have her body she can be put to rest and we can move on with our lives."

The identification was virtually positive after Ed Jr. recognized homemade musical cassette tapes of popular musical groups at the time that he and Cindy had made. One song was "We Built This City" by Jefferson Starship.

Cindy Zarzycki went missing April 20, 1986, after she planned to meet Ream, the father of a boy she knew, at a Dairy Queen on Nine Mile Road near her home.

The investigation was reopened several years ago by Eastpointe police and later by the cold case unit of the Macomb Prosecutor's Office. Ream was convicted June 18 of first-degree murder by a Macomb County Circuit Court jury following a trial in which prosecutors presented overwhelming circumstantial evidence but no body. He is facing July 22 a life sentence without parole.

Ream, housed at Macomb Correctional Facility in Lenox Township, agreed Tuesday to point police in the right direction and Wednesday twice went to the area with police to show them the spot, although she was eventually found about 10 feet away, according to Eastpointe Police Chief Mike Lauretti.

The location was southwest of the intersection of 23 Mile Road and North Avenue, about a half-mile south off 23 Mile. It was within about 20 feet of a branch of the Clinton River.

The body was not enclosed in anything, and some of her clothing was found with her, Lauretti said.

Eastpointe police Detective Derek McLaughlin is credited with helping to influence Ream to disclose the location even though Ream had nothing to gain since his conviction. Ream and Macomb prosecutors during jury deliberations prior to the verdict discussed a plea to a reduced charge if Ream provided the information, but a deal was never reached.

"It's been a lot of years," McLaughlin said Wednesday. "It's a sad story, not the conclusion we wanted, but we're glad that we're able to resolve the case and give the family some closure."

"This was the only thing left in the case, I can't say why he did what he did," Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith said Wednesday.

The family had planned to conduct a memorial service shortly after Ream was convicted, but McLaughlin told them to hold off. He believed that Ream wanted to first see if he could "beat the charges" at trial, said Karen Hoeft, Cindy Zarzycki's aunt who like other family and friends left her job early Wednesday at Chrysler Corp. in Rochester Hills to wait for the recovery of the body.

Now the family will conduct a service. Schultz Funeral Home in Eastpointe will handle the arrangements, and she will be buried in Burtchville, north of Port Huron, in St. Clair County, according to Ed Zarzycki Sr.

She said now is the time to put this case to rest and have pleasant memories of Cindy.

"We are all Christians so we have to forgive," Hoeft said.

Ed Zarzycki, Cindy's brother, who had begged to go with his sister to Dairy Queen as she walked down Roslyn toward Nine Mile, said it was his biggest regret in connection with the case, "I'm sorry I wasn't there. I love her; she's looking down on us."

Several family members and friends of Cindy sat and waited in lawn chairs much of the day Wednesday as police - armed with a writ and search warrant both OK'd by Judge Mary Chrzanowski and accompanied for much of the day by the judge - began searching and digging with the help of specialists from the Michigan State University Anthropology Department. McLaughlin and fellow Eastpointe Detective Kelly Shock led the search, which included bringing in Michigan State Police cadaver dogs.

The police personnel painstakingly removed mounds of dirt, one layer at a time, so that any remains police might find would not be disturbed.

Ream's attorney, Timothy Kohler, said Wednesday his client drew a map of the area and pinpointed several spots he thought were good possibilities. Kohler said Ream had vivid memories of the grave site because he was familiar with the area. One report that could not be immediately confirmed said that Ream at one time owned the property.

"He would take flowers to the grave," Kohler said. "He did it until 1997."

"That's kind of sick," Karen Hoeft remarked.

Ream allegedly told McLaughlin on Tuesday that he often would drive his car about one-half mile through the field to a bridge that crossed the creek.

The property has since been sold to Alvin Kukuk, a former state lawmaker and Macomb Township supervisor. Kukuk rents out a house on the property. The residents Wednesday accommodated police as police and media vehicles parked in front of the home.

"I'm very surprised," said Kukuk. "I bought the property a number of years ago from someone else but never knew this man."

Hoeft, who testified in the trial, said the family appreciates the efforts of everyone involved in the case.

And no matter the horror of how Cindy's life ended, family members said they try to remain focused on the positive memories of the young girl who was just starting to "spread her wings" into her teenage years.

Another aunt of Cindy, Deborah Holk, said she recently dreamed of her mother and Cindy's grandmother, Frances Zarzycki, who has been dead for nine years. She said they had a great relationship and she remembers how much Cindy loved her grandmother.

"She loved coming to my house and I miss that - even though I still have those great memories," Holk said. "My (late) husband and I had a boat and we always took her on it. She loved to have picnics on the boat."

PHOTO AT:
http://www.macombdaily.com/stories/071008/loc_local01.shtml
_________________
"Sell Crazy Someplace Else. We're all stocked up here."

Line from the movie As Good As It Gets

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PUBLISHED: Sunday, July 13, 2008
Killer who led police to body denies he is culprit

Ream said girl was with his son, not him, day she died

Even after leading officers to the body of Cindy Zarzycki, convicted killer Arthur Nelson Ream, 59, still denies involvement in the crime.

Last month, a jury deliberated for only two hours before declaring Ream guilty of first-degree murder in the 13-year-old's death.

But according to lead detective Derek McLaughlin of the Eastpointe Police Department, Ream still denies killing Cindy. Ream told McLaughlin she was with his son, Scott, the day she died, and he claimed the victim fell from an elevator in his carpet warehouse in Warren.

But Jennifer L. Leibow, a professional interviewer with the management security services firm Wicklander-Zulawski & Associates in Downers Grove, Ill., said there is no evidence to show that.

McLaughlin and Leibow believe Ream killed Cindy after raping her. And they said Ream had a long history of raping young girls.

"After he was arrested in January (2008) and charged with Cindy's murder, many women came forward and told us they were also raped by Art," Leibow said.

Before being charged with Cindy's murder, Ream was charged with taking indecent liberties with a minor in Shelby Township and criminal sexual conduct in the third degree in Bay City.

"We interviewed a woman who said Art was 13 and she was 10 when he molested her," McLaughlin said.

Ream also used to have many parties to which young girls were invited, said McLaughlin, adding they were lured to the parties with marijuana, booze and cigarettes.

Those kinds of details come easily to McLaughlin, who spent eight years doggedly pursuing Zarzycki's killer.

Many people, especially the Zarzycki family, have praised McLaughlin for his persistence in getting a conviction. For 21 years, police had no suspect.

Ed Zarzycki, Cindy's father, and her aunts, including Karen Hoeft, said McLaughlin and Eastpointe detectives Kelly Shock and Danielle Davis (who has since left the department) worked relentlessly to find a suspect.

"Mac was awesome," Hoeft said. "And I have a lot of praise for (Detective Lt.) Leo (Borowsky) for keeping us informed all of the way at what was going on."

Even though it was a little over eight years ago, McLaughlin said he remembers the day he got the case like it was yesterday. He said then-Chief Tom Danbert walked up and plunked down a box with two binders inside before saying simply, "solve it."

McLaughlin had been introduced to a member of the Wicklander-Zulawski investigative training team at a seminar 11 years ago and he brought the case to them for assistance.

The representative, whose name escapes McLaughlin, said it was a good case. The representative took the information back to the Wicklander-Zulawski office near Chicago and they worked on it in tandem with Eastpointe police.

"We talked to nieces, nephews, friends, family members and anyone else that could remotely be associated with this crime," McLaughlin said. "We also found out that Art always hung out with his young nephews and the reason is because they always hung around with young girls.

"Eight years went by and we were supposed to interview Art in 2004. We didn't, and then started all over again interviewing family members and friends on Rosalind Street where Cindy grew up."

Ream's name just kept popping up.

Cat and mouse

Leibow, who is studying psychology and plans to be a police psychologist, said Ream doesn't like women. He said he also hates cops, but they managed to work around that hatred to finally get Zarcycki's body for her family to bury.

The process began in earnest after the guilty verdict when Ream wrote to Judge Mary Chrzanowski and asked her to vacate the sentence. McLaughlin met with Ream and his attorney, Timothy Kohler, and very little came of the meeting.

McLaughlin met again with Ream -- alone -- earlier this past week and Ream said he wanted to talk about giving up the body.

"You have to remember, Art is a control freak," McLaughlin said. "He wanted to be in charge. He was holding the trump card and, indeed he was, because we wanted to find Cindy's body."

McLaughlin said he kept the conversation sweet and short. He said he told Ream that he was not there to satisfy him, because he was already found guilty.

"He asked me, 'Don't you want to know what happened?'" McLaughlin said. "He asked me if the family had closure.

"I told him the family is satisfied. I said they will move on, but they would like to have a body."

McLaughlin said Ream got very agitated and seemed not to know what to say next.

"I then told Art that 'I'm here for one thing, to find out where the body is, and if not I really don't care,'" McLaughlin said. "I then left and put a sense of urgency on him."

Eventually during questioning, Ream drew police a map of exactly where he buried Cindy, in a field on 23 Mile Road west of North Avenue.

Police took him there on two occasions Wednesday. Ream pointed to two spots where police spent four hours digging.

At first, McLaughlin and Michigan State Police Trooper David Young talked about what they were going to do. A farmer came up and agreed to help, so they asked him to scoop out six inches of dirt and then another six inches.

During an all-day search on Wednesday by state police, Michigan State University anthropology students and officers from the Michigan State Police Violent Crimes and K-9 Unit worked tirelessly looking for Cindy's body.

Hope started to wane when a doctor from MSU said it didn't look good. Darkness was setting in. But they kept digging.

Body discovered

"Art previously told me that there was a hump in the soil," McLaughlin said. "The farmer, who was dead tired but said he would remain until the body was found, hit a hump."

First, they saw a piece of cloth, then her purse, McLaughlin said. They kept carefully shoveling and found a tibia.

Authorities found some of Cindy's audiotapes in her purse and her one-of-a-kind shoes. They also found some jewelry the family identified as hers.

"The MSU doctor told us that Cindy was below us," McLaughlin said. "I just couldn't believe it. We were just in shock."

McLaughlin and Leibow had kept faith, though, that authorities would find the body.

Ream continued to tell police the elevator accident story, adding details like picking up Cindy at the Dairy Queen on Nine Mile under the pretense of taking her to a surprise birthday party for his son.

He said he went to his carpet warehouse and left Cindy with Scott. He said he drove to his trailer and Scott called saying something was very wrong. The story went that his son told him she was on an open elevator when she walked off and fell to her death.

But detectives said testimony by Ream's ex-wife showed he was lying, and besides, his son was in Texas with a co-worker at the time. Medical testimony backed up the ex-wife. Macomb County Medical Examiner Dr. Daniel Spitz said Friday the victim had no fractures and no broken bones. Spitz said there were also no obvious signs of trauma.

Leibow said she believes Cindy was sexually molested and then died from strangulation.

"Cindy is a fighter," Leibow said. "She really ticked him off."

McLaughlin will be honored by the Eastpointe City Council at its meeting at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall.
_________________
"Sell Crazy Someplace Else. We're all stocked up here."

Line from the movie As Good As It Gets

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Hearing Delayed For Convicted Killer Of Girl, 13

POSTED: 12:24 pm EDT September 16, 2008
UPDATED: 1:49 pm EDT September 16, 2008

MOUNT CLEMENS, MICH. -- A hearing has been delayed for a convicted murderer seeking a new trial in Macomb County.

Fifty-nine-year-old Arthur Nelson Ream is serving a life sentence for the murder of Cindy Zarzycki. The 13-year-old last was seen in 1986 at a Dairy Queen in the Detroit suburb of Eastpointe.

A Macomb County jury convicted Ream of first-degree murder in June. A month later, Ream led police to Cindy's burial site.

A hearing on a motion seeking a new trial was scheduled for Tuesday but was adjourned to Sept. 30.

A message seeking comment was left for defense attorney R. Timothy Kohler. Ream has said he is innocent.

Ream also is serving a 15-year sentence on a molestation charge involving a 14-year-old girl.

Previous Stories:

* August 7, 2008: Convicted Killer In 1986 Slaying Gets Life
* June 11, 2008: Trial Begins For Suspect In Murder Mystery


VIDEO AT:
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/17486180/detail.html

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He lead LE to her body, yet he says he didn't kill her, he's innocent.
OK, I'll bite. So how did he know where the body was, and doesn't that make him just as culpable?
_________________
"Sell Crazy Someplace Else. We're all stocked up here."

Line from the movie As Good As It Gets

[rumaj]

Judge: No New Trial For Convicted Child Killer
Man Killed 13-Year-Old Girl, Police Say

POSTED: 12:24 pm EDT September 16, 2008
UPDATED: 4:07 pm EDT September 30, 2008

MOUNT CLEMENS, MICH. -- A man convicted of murdering a 13-year-old girl in Macomb County will not get a new trial.

Macomb County Circuit Judge Mary Chrzanowski on Tuesday declined to order a new trial for 59-year-old Arthur Nelson Ream.

A jury convicted Ream of first-degree murder in June for the death of Cindy Zarzycki. The 13-year-old last was seen in 1986 at a Dairy Queen in the Detroit suburb of Eastpointe.

A month after his conviction, Ream led police to Cindy's burial site. He is serving a life sentence.

Ream also is serving a 15-year sentence on a molestation charge involving a 14-year-old girl.

Ream has maintained his innocence.

Defense attorney R. Timothy Kohler has said the evidence against Ream was circumstantial.
_________________
"Sell Crazy Someplace Else. We're all stocked up here."

Line from the movie As Good As It Gets

[rumaj]

'Dateline NBC' to air Zarzycki murder case

The 23-year-old disappearance of an Eastpointe girl, whose body was finally recovered in July, is the focus of a two-hour "Dateline NBC' show airing at 9 p.m. Friday.

The show, “Dairy Queen,” details the 1986 disappearance of 13-year-old Cindy Zarzycki, whose killer, Arthur Ream, was convicted last year before leading police to her body, which he’d buried on a plot of rural Macomb Township land.

The show includes interviews with Eastpointe Detective Derek (Mac) McLaughlin, who is credited with solving the case, as well as forensic interrogator Jennifer Leibow and Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith. Free Press reporter Amber Hunt, who was at the scene when Cindy’s body was recovered by authorities, also is interviewed for the episode.

Ream is at the Earnest C. Brooks Correctional Facility in Muskegon Heights, where he is serving a life sentence.
_________________
"Sell Crazy Someplace Else. We're all stocked up here."

Line from the movie As Good As It Gets

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Dairy Queens to mark Cindy Zarzycki disappearance

By AMBER HUNT • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER • April 19, 2009

The 1986 disappearance of Cindy Zarzycki finally ended in a murder conviction last year, meaning that Monday -- the 23rd anniversary of the day she vanished -- her family finally knows what happened to her.

To commemorate the date, two area Dairy Queens plan to donate a portion of their sales to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children -- an appropriate spot because Cindy disappeared after meeting Arthur Ream, her budding boyfriend's father and her killer, at a Dairy Queen.

The participating locations are at 17207 E. 9 Mile Road in Eastpointe, to which Cindy was last seen walking, and 29580 Gratiot Ave. in Roseville. Donations also are being accepted.

Constance Johnson, Cindy's older sister, said the event is meant to help families who went through what hers endured.

"I didn't know how I would deal with Monday being the first anniversary, now that we know what we know," she said Saturday. "But it's not just about our family; it's reaching out to those other families."

Ream, 59, was convicted in June of killing Cindy. A month later, he led investigators to her body, which he had buried in an unmarked grave on a rural plot of land in Macomb Township. He is serving a life sentence for first-degree murder.

Cindy's remains were laid to rest in November, after DNA testing confirmed the bones belonged to her.

The case was the subject of a two-hour "Dateline" episode on NBC Friday night. The show with extras can be viewed online

• DATELINE EPISODE ABOUT CINDY ZARZYCKI CASE: View Friday's "Dateline" episode about the Cindy Zarzycki case
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032600/


The Dairy Queens will be open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. For more information about the missing children center, call 800-THE-LOST (800-843-5678) or go to its Web site.

• MISSING CHILDREN CENTER: National Center for Missing and Exploited Children online

http://www.missingkids.com./
_________________
"Sell Crazy Someplace Else. We're all stocked up here."

Line from the movie As Good As It Gets

[The Real Suspect Zero]

Never mind..


Chris

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Exclusive video on channel 4 (not shown on dateline)
http://www.clickondetroit.com/video/19229349/index.html
_________________
"Sell Crazy Someplace Else. We're all stocked up here."

Line from the movie As Good As It Gets