Q&A: Sifting Through a 45-Year-Old Cold Case

It's been nearly five decades since Valerie Percy, the 21-year-old daughter of former U.S. Sen. Charles Percy, was bludgeoned to death while sleeping at the family's Kenilworth home. It was the first slaying in the village's history.

While police have been pursuing the case since that infamous day in 1966, Valerie's killer still goes unpunished.

"Every year and anytime I see Sept. 18, or the year 1966 comes up in any fashion throughout the year, I think of this case," said Kenilworth Detective Dave Miller, who is currently investigating the case.

, a stalwart Republican in the Illinois political scene for decades, died Sept. 17 of this year without receiving any closure in the slaying of Valerie, the lone family member attacked that night 45 years ago.

Miller began working on the case in 2002 and became the lead investigator for the homicide in 2004.

Earlier:

Miller told Patch what it's like to inherit the history of one of the North Shore's biggest unsolved murders.

Patch: When, if you can recall, did you first hear of this case?

Dave Miller: I first heard about this case from my parents in 1993 when I told them that I filled out an application for a police officer position in Kenilworth. I remembered Sen. Charles Percy as being our senator for years but I had no idea that his daughter Valerie was killed.

Patch: Is inheriting an unsolved case anything like inheriting unfinished work? What's that like?

Miller: An unsolved cold case is very different from being involved with a case from the beginning because there is so much history and so much that has taken place that you don’t have firsthand knowledge of.

There are files upon files upon files of information and a lot of it is like reading a history book and learning as much as you can about what was done and what the result was. Gaining this historical knowledge is critical for being able to recognize the importance or value of a piece of information that comes in.   

Patch: How long do departments keep files and evidence on cold cases before they purge them? Is there a sort of industry standard length of time? Or do they keep them forever now?

Miller: Files and evidence in an open homicide case should never be destroyed.

Patch: Because of the length of time that's now passed--45 years this month--do you think time's running out to solve this case?

Miller: I think the more time that passes, the more of a disadvantage you have trying to solve the case. Time has not run out on this case, however, and I am hopeful that someday there will be closure for the Percy family.

Cases older than this one have been solved and this one could be as well.

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