The FBI released the below report:
Thirteen-year-old Alexandra
Anaya was brutally murdered 11 years ago this month, and today the FBI’s
Chicago Division—in close partnership with local authorities—marked the
anniversary by requesting the public’s assistance to help to solve the case.
The Indiana teen, known to
friends and family as Alex, was reported missing from her home August 13,
2005—she was last seen by her mother early that morning. Three days later,
boaters on the Little Calumet River in Chicago found her dismembered body floating
in the water.
Both the Chicago Police
Department (CPD) and the Hammond Police Department in Indiana conducted an
exhaustive investigation at the time and have continued to follow leads since,
but Alex’s killer remains at large. Her case is one of many now being reviewed
by FBI Chicago’s recently established Homicide Initiative Task Force.
“We believe this was not a
random act of violence and that Alex knew her assailant,” said FBI Chicago
Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Anderson during a press conference today in
Chicago. “It has been more than a decade since Alex was murdered, and during
that time people and relationships have changed. We are hopeful that someone
will come forward now,” he added.
The Homicide Initiative Task
Force—a collaboration between the FBI and the CPD—was launched in April 2016 to
help local authorities solve some of Chicago’s most violent murders. Task force
members re-examine cold cases with a fresh perspective and take advantage of
the most current scientific techniques and forensic processes.
“The homicide rate is
extremely high in Chicago,” said Special Agent Courtney Corbett, a task force
member who works alongside CPD detectives and other FBI personnel. “Because
there are so many homicides here, a cold case could be 20 years old or a murder
that occurred six months ago.”
CPD homicide detectives often
have caseloads that are overwhelming, Corbett said. “The task force is here to
provide specialized assistance and help in any way we can.” That assistance
translates into FBI resources such as enhanced DNA testing, telephone record
analysis, surveillance, and the deployment of Bureau experts, including dive
team personnel and members of the Behavioral Analysis Unit—commonly called
profilers.
In Alex’s case, Corbett said,
“we have been reviewing leads and re-interviewing individuals associated with
this case. The DNA evidence has been well preserved, and we plan to use
enhanced technology to exploit that evidence.” She added that task force
members are fully invested in finding the killer. “We want to bring justice to
Alex and other victims like her, and their families,” Corbett said. “To do
that—and to ultimately reduce the homicide rate in Chicago—we all have to work
together.”
Anyone with information
regarding the murder of Alex Anaya—no matter how insignificant they think it
might be—is asked to contact the FBI’s Chicago Field Office at (312) 421-6700
or submit a tip online.
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