Ten years ago Friday, the Racine County Sheriff’s Office and law enforcement agencies in Wisconsin and Illinois were working on what Sheriff Christopher Schmalling calls one the “most violent, cruel and heart-wrenching” investigations in county history.
AUDIO: Janet Hoff, WRJN, report.
They were looking for Teri Jendusa-Nicolai and her two children. They eventually found the children unharmed, but it was some time before they found Jendusa-Nicholai beaten, bound and stuffed into a trash container, then left to die in an unheated storage unit in Illinois by her ex-husband. She survived her ordeal and has become an advocate for domestic violence victims.
At a news conference to mark the anniversary, Schmalling said since that time, much has been done in Racine County to help other victims.
Jendusa-Nicolai says she went through a horrible ordeal, but so much good has come from it. She said several laws have been passed in Wisconsin to help domestic violence victims, but she said there is still a long way to go.
