Lincoln’s notorious cold case: Tina McMenamin

Jaden Vankeuren, Writer

Tina McMenamin was murdered on July 25th, 1995 in her apartment at Amberwood Apartments on 4600 Briarpark Drive. Tina was stabbed multiple times and sexually assaulted, here’s the scary thing, her killer is still out there.

Tina McMenamin was a freshman at the University of Nebraska Lincoln. Being eighteen years old she had her whole life ahead of her until her last day on Earth was a little before 5:30 on July 25th, 1995.

Her roommate Sarah was the one who found Tina in her own blood in their shared apartment. When in an interview with the police she claimed that the place was ransacked and that she originally walked past Tina’s bedroom multiple times before she realized that Tina was laying there.

Three main detectives were on the case, David Beggs, Kim Koluch, and Doug Srb. They had almost given up on finding the suspect until they found a strand piece of hair in Tina’s hand. DNA testing led the detectives to Gregory Gabel, an eighteen-year-old at the time. 

Gabel was in jail for two years until the researchers did another DNA test on that strand of hair with newer technology. They were shocked to see that the hair didn’t belong to him.

With this new information, the detectives went on another endless journey to try and find Tina’s killer. They went through their database to try and find guys who match the suspect’s description.

Until this day they have yet to find the killer and it has been about twenty-four years since the killing. So, the question is, where is he and will he strike again?