On their first day of their senior year of high school in 1979, Susan Ovington and Eyvonne Bender were shot and killed. Their bodies were found in a forest preserve across from a shopping mall where the two girls had gone to buy some jeans. The police department in Morton Grove, Illinois, never uncovered the identity of the killer. The cold case remains unsolved to this day.
Stacey Nye hopes she might be the one to solve it, and not just because she is a self-professed true crime junkie – Susan and Eyvonne were members of her 1980 high school graduating class in suburban Chicago.
Nye is a clinical professor of psychology at UW-Milwaukee, and she is also the co-host of a new podcast called “Murder in Morton Grove.” The podcast and its accompanying blog explore elements of the 45-year-old cold case and shed light on investigative techniques from forensic genealogy to constructing a timeline of events to consulting psychics.
The podcast launched in late September. Nye and her co-host, Julie Lokun, explore different aspects of the case and invite guests to share their expertise.
Nye is an experienced podcaster, though this will be her first in the true-crime genre. She has previously hosted the podcasts “Psychoanalyzing the Patient,” “Psychoanalyzing the Fall of the House of Usher,” (both co-hosted with Lindsay Jones) and the light-hearted “The Sh*t That Happens to Me.”
“I’ve always been fascinated by true crime, but diving into a story with personal ties has been deeply humbling,” said Nye. “Speaking with the victims’ families and witnessing the case through their unresolved grief has been a powerful and sobering experience.”
Even so, Nye is excited to step back into the world of podcasting, and she hopes that her new venture will not only inform audiences, but also find some sort of justice for Susan, Eyvonne, and their families.
