The Night Mary Jane Disappeared

Rob Stafford Correspondent • Profile

A child's memory…

Desi Pena: I remember big hair. That's the first thing I think about.

Rob Stafford, Dateline NBC correspondent: A lotta hair?

Desi Pena: A lotta hair. Very big hair.

…of an adored mother who disappeared.

Desi Pena: I remember feeling very, very sad and hurt. Like, why would she leave me? How come she doesn't love me? Was I bad?

And a night of terror....

Rob Stafford: Do you remember the look on his face that night?

Desi Pena: (nods)

She can never forget.

Rob Stafford: Have the nightmares stopped?

Desi Pena: No.

Desi was just three when her mother vanished into the cold November night. A toddler with haunted eyes. And haunted dreams.

Aunt: You couldn't sleep? Why?

Desi Pena: Scared.

Aunt: You were scared?

While the police investigation languished ....

Video   Desi on anger and forgiveness Desiree Pena discusses her feelings for Thomas Zich, the man convicted of murdering her mother. Dateline NBC

Rob Stafford: Did police take fingerprints at the house?

Forrester: No.  The house was never processed.  It wasn't photographed.  Nothing.

…The killer walked free.

Sharyn: How different our life would have been if he had not been in it. 

And all Desi could do was hold fast to her terrible memories. And wait. It's Mary Jane's smile that everyone remembers. That infectious grin.

Lulu: She was just like a light. You know how fireflies gravitate to a light or something? That's how she was.

The youngest of seven children growing up outside Toledo, Ohio, she was hard to ignore. Her older sister Lulu says she loved to dance and act the clown.

Lulu: I have to admit, Mary Jane was one who loved to pull the pranks. You know, it was like, "Mary Jane, stop it."  (laughs)

She was loving too. Her mother Maria says she would kiss her each day before school. And when she was grown they would chat on the phone most nights before bed. Every night that is, until the night she disappeared.

Perhaps it's not surprising then how much she loved her own daughter. Mary Jane found herself a single mom at 24, but her sister Lulu says she didn't feel a moment's regret. Baby Desiree was her blessing.

Lulu: They were inseparable. They were just like, you know, they'd just look into each other's eyes and they were just completely connected.

Life wasn't easy those first years. Mary Jane scrambled to make ends meet. But in the summer of 1990, that was about to change. Mary Jane was a waitress at a diner. And she was getting special attention from one of the customers.

Lulu: He would not want any other waitress except for her.

Tom Zich was new to town. He'd relocated from Wisconsin to take a high-paying job at the Jeep factory.  He left Mary Jane $100 tips and promised her a better life.

Lulu: "I'll take care of you and your daughter together. And you won't have to worry about anything."

After a whirlwind romance the couple married in 1990. Mary Jane quit her job and moved into Tom's bachelor pad off State Road 51 in Genoa, Ohio.

Michele Mauder: I thought, Wow, what is she doing with this older gentleman?

Michele Mauder was one of Mary Jane's oldest friends. She was surprised at the match - Tom was nearly seventeen years older than Mary Jane -  but she was impressed with the tender way he treated his young bride. He was generous too.

Michele Mauder: He would buy her necklaces and rings and very nice things. He wined and dined her, so that was-- an attractive-- aspect in her life,that, "Wow, this is-- this is nice to be taken care of."

And according to Tom, Mary Jane needed some serious taking care of. . Just six months into their marriage Tom Zich took Mary Jane's siblings aside one by one and told them their baby sister had a problem.

Lulu: That she was on drugs, that she's been going to Toledo to buy her drugs and to take her drugs.

One night her parents dropped by the Zich home and found Mary Jane locked in the bathroom, screaming for her daughter. Tom said he'd locked her in there for her own good. He was trying to stop Mary Jane from running off to score drugs.

Lulu: She had tied some bed sheets and strung them outside of the window. Tom had seen her jump out of the window. He dragged her back in the house you know screaming and kicking and crying.

It was so painful to witness. Then as suddenly as it came, the crisis was over. Mary Jane didn't seem to want to talk about it.

Lulu: A lot of times, you know, I would ask her, "Are you okay?"  And she'd just simply say, "Yes." And you know, she'd go on, you know, into her bubbly little self and kind of like brush it off.

Early in December 1991, the family gathered for a holiday party. Mary Jane's mother was looking forward to seeing her - she hadn't called her for a few days.

Lulu: So them Tom showed up with Desiree and we're all just kind of, like, looking around, wondering Well, where's Mary Jane?

Tom Zich didn't have any answers for Mary Jane's brother, Joe.

Joe: I says, "Where's Mary Jane?" "Don't know. She took off." I said, "What do you mean she took off?" "She left." And I says, "Well, what are you doing about it?" and he says, "Nothing."

And all the time Tom was talking, one of Mary Jane's other brothers, couldn't take his eyes off little Desi's face.

Dan: And she had this look of terror in her eyes. I've never seen a child look that terrified in my whole life. She was just terrified. Once i saw the look, i said:"something terrible has happened here. This baby is so scared. Something bad has happened.

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