WICKER PARK — The family of Amanda Pucci, a 23-year-old woman whose body was found in an East Village alley four years ago, have not given up their search to find out what happened to her after she left evilOlive in Wicker Park.
The mystery surrounding Pucci’s death and her family’s long search will be the focus of a “Case Files Chicago” episode scheduled to air at 11 p.m. Saturday on channel 50 The CW Network (or channel 8 on Comcast). “Case Files Chicago” is a documentary series profiling true, unsolved and violent crimes in the greater Chicagoland area.
Watch the trailer, here:
On Friday, Karen Hinkley, Pucci’s grandmother, said she hopes that someone who sees the episode on Saturday will know more information about how her granddaughter ended up dead in an alley in the 1000 block of North Wood Street in East Village.
“Chicago Police detective Ozzie Valdez has been passionate about finding out what happened to her while she was out celebrating with her “girlfriends” that tragic evening. No one has been willing to come forward to tell us what happened,” Hinkley said.
Pucci’s body was found on the morning of May 6, 2014, in an alley near a row of residential garages and a construction site by the corner of Wood and Augusta.
On the night before her body was discovered, Pucci was celebrating Cinco de Mayo with friends at evilOlive, a nightclub at 1551 W. Division St. Surveillance footage of Pucci in the club will be shared in the upcoming Case Files Chicago episode, according to producer Lisette Guillen.
Pucci was on her way home from evilOlive to an apartment in the 2500 block of West Augusta Boulevard that she had just moved into a few months before her death, after previously living in Fox Lake, Hinkley said.
“She left the evilOlive that night after she had drinks with friends. We don’t know what happened after that. No one that was there has come forward,” Hinkley said.
evilOlive was under different management at the time of the incident in May 2014, and is now fully owned by Marcin Kawa, who previously was a silent partner.
“Up until January of last year, Marcin was a silent partner. Unfortunately, because we had zero knowledge of this tragedy, he can not comment. We send our deepest condolences to her family and hope that justice is served for this young lady,” a spokeswoman for Kawa said on Friday.
Hinkley said an autopsy revealed no signs of sexual assault.
Karen Hinkley lives in Grand Gorge, N.Y. and Pucci, who was raised in nearby Schenectady, was Hinkley’s first of 11 grandchildren.
At the time of her death, Pucci had a job working as a server for Moretti’s, a restaurant in Edison Park.
“She was looking for a job with an insurance company in Chicago just before she died. She moved to Chicago to be with her boyfriend Mike Constantine. We were told that Mike did not want to go out with the girls that night — it was a Monday for Cinco de Mayo and he had to work on Tuesday morning. So, he stayed home,” Hinkley said.
Hinkley said she hopes a $10,000 reward for information about the cause of her granddaughter’s death will spark new interest, as well as Saturday’s “Case Files Chicago” episode.
Anyone with information can call CPD detectives at 312-747-8380.