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October 24, 2006 - A woman has been murdered inside a high-rise in Chicago's Hyde Park
neighborhood. Police discovered the body of 39-year-old Janice Ordidge after she didn't show up for work. She had been strangled. Police are looking for leads in the case as relatives and friends try to cope with their loss. The woman's body was found Monday in the bathroom of her high rise apartment at 1649 E. 50th St. (Twin Towers Apartments) She worked as a scheduler at Northwestern's Prentiss Women's Hospital. Employees there became worried when she didn't show up for work. "She was the kind who would call if she was 10 minutes late," said Lara Olmos, co-worker.
Police were asked to check on Ordidge. They went to her apartment Monday afternoon and found her in the bathtub. The medical examiner is calling it a strangulation homicide. There were no signs of forced entry.
There is no video surveillance in the building, but there is security.
"There's security at night, two security guys and in the day you have to be buzzed in," said Papa Ndiaye, doorman.
Some residents say the building management didn't notify them of the killing-- and they are upset.
"There should have been notification. This is very serious, for someone so close to us and we not know about it," said Dashara Wells, neighbor.
"We live here, and if there needs to be security, I don't know but something should have been done," said Marissa Petersen, neighbor.
Ordidge was one of five sisters. They say she was amicably divorced and that her former husband lives in England. They also say she had a new boyfriend but there had been no indication of trouble.
"She's the most beautiful person you ever wanted to meet," said Mary Lambert, victim's sister. "She loved life and enjoyed life, so to know her is to love her."
Police have not said whether they have any leads in the case.
Janice Ordidge knew the dangers of living alone in a big city, even in her relatively safe Hyde Park neighborhood.She lived across the street from one sister, next door to another -- and the three were watchful over one another as they came and went.
Now her family is trying to figure out what happened over the weekend inside her 13th-floor apartment. Ordidge, a nurse at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, was found Monday afternoon strangled to death in her bathtub.
Ordidge, who lived in the 1600 block of East 50th Street, last spoke with her family Saturday morning when she asked one of her sisters to go shopping downtown. Her sister said she couldn't go -- and they never heard from Ordidge again, said another sister, Loretta Lambert-Shamley, 45.
On Sunday, a phone call to Ordidge from one of her sisters went unanswered, which was unusual. On Monday, Ordidge failed to show for work.
"Her job is her life," said Lambert-Shamley. "Jan is one of those ones who you have to tell to take a vacation."
The family went to the building and asked a manager to open the door. The manager called Ordidge's name and checked the living room and bedroom, but found nothing. Police then arrived and did a more thorough search.
"She had been hidden in the bathtub," Lambert-Shamley said.
"We are all in shock down here," said Lambert-Shamley, who lives in Memphis. "She was such a safe person. Everything was always about security. She was a single woman in Chicago. . . . I am just wondering if someone walked in and surprised her."
Ordidge, 39, worked at the downtown hospital for eight years, a spokeswoman said. She was married but had been separated from her husband for a few years, her sister said. He lives in New York, and Ordidge had plans to follow him there but abruptly decided not to, her sister said. She never offered an explanation.
One of 10 siblings, Ordidge was born in Chicago. The family moved to Aurora when she was 9. She graduated from East Aurora High School.
Ordidge considered being a chef before settling on nursing as a career.
NBC5 Article - Video
Janit Ordidge's Windows Were All Open, Heat Turned Off
POSTED: 6:43 pm CDT October 24, 2006
Police arrived at the scene and all of Janet Ordidge's windows were open and the heat had been turned off for days. But they didn't notice any trauma to her body. Late Tuesday afternoon, the Cook County medical examiner ruled her death a homicide, saying she was strangled.Ordidge never missed a day of work. She was never even late. So when she didn't show up as a surgical scheduler at PWH, friends and family thought the worst.Ordidge lived alone at the Twin Towers apartment complex in Hyde Park.The medical examiner said Ordidge's body was badly beaten she was left for dead in her bathtub.When the janitor conducted a well-being check, he found all the windows open in her 13th floor apartment and the heat was turned off.Records show the last cell phone call made was at 12:18 Saturday afternoon.That night, she was supposed to go out with her new boyfriend -- a Chicago police officer. Friends said they had been dating for the past month.According to sources, her new boyfriend spoke with police Monday by phone.There were no signs of forced entry and the only item police said is missing is her wallet.
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