LOMBARD – Members of the Lombard Police Department is continuing to serve on a task force for the investigation into the Chicago Tylenol Murders along with several other police departments, despite the FBI's decision to pull out of the investigation, according to a press release from the Arlington Heights Police Department.
In 1982, seven people died after taking cyanide-laced Tylenol, which was consumed over three days in Chicago and its suburbs.
No one was ever charged for the killings.
One of the victims, Mary McFarland, 31, of Elmhurst, died at Yorktown in Lombard shortly after ingesting the cyanide-laced Tylenol while at work.
The Lombard Police Department has remained involved in the task force because of the open murder investigation that happened in town, said Lombard Police Chief Ray Byrne.
Other victims of the poisoned Tylenol included Stanley Janus, 25, and Theresa Janus, 19, both of Lisle; and Mary Reiner, 27, of Winfield, among others. All seven victims were found to have ingested the cyanide-laced Extra Strength Tylenol capsules on or shortly after Sept. 29, 1982.
The deaths led Johnson & Johnson to recall some 31 million bottles of Tylenol and led to the introduction of tamper-resistant packaging.
The FBI-led task force was established in 2007, along with the Illinois State Police and police departments in Arlington Heights, Elk Grove Village, Lombard, Schaumburg, Chicago and Winfield.
The FBI will continue to provide resources as needed to assist the investigation, according to the release.