The next day, Wednesday, January 31, 1996, Rachel stayed home from school with a sore throat.

Vince, who was unemployed, also stayed home with her.

At 10:45 AM that day, Rachel called her paternal grandmother, Lucy Skemp, to thank her for Christmas presents she’d sent.

Lucy stated that the phone call lasted about 4–5 minutes and that nothing seemed out of the ordinary until Rachel seemed to get very quiet.

Her grandmother asked, “Is he there?” referring to Vince, and Rachel replied, “Yes,” before stating she had to go.

This was the last time anyone besides Vince talked to Rachel.

After the phone call, according to Vince, he and Rachel played Nintendo together that afternoon until she decided to take a nap in her bed.

While she napped, Vince says he took the family dog, a white German Shepherd named Duke, on a walk at around 2:30 PM in -20-degree weather.

During the 30-minute walk, the dog broke free of its collar to chase after a rabbit in a nearby field. Vince said he left the dog at the field, believing it could find its own way home.

Vince says he left the door unlocked and while he was gone, someone must have taken Rachel.

Authorities maintain that Vincent never checked on Rachel when he returned home, but he stated that he did indeed notice his stepdaughter had disappeared after he finished the walk.

Six-year-old Ashley came home from school at around 3:15 PM to discover that Rachel wasn’t at home. She told Vince that she couldn’t find Rachel, but nothing was done until Amy and Jason arrived home after 5 PM and called the Bolingbrook police.

The police showed up several hours later.

While nobody saw Vince that day, a local real estate broker returned the dog to their property with help from a neighbor between 4:30 and 5 PM.