Rebecca Finkenhofer was 16 and a sophomore at Harlem High School when she was killed on December 28, 2016, in Machesney Park, Illinois. She was at home with her grandmother and her 6-year-old sister when an intruder, 36-year-old Michael Mernack, who had been a former boyfriend of Rebecca’s mother and was subject to a court order of protection, broke into the apartment. Rebecca was shot and killed in a walkway near the apartment while trying to protect her younger sister and grandmother.

Mernack also shot Rebecca’s grandmother, Cheryl Puckett, who was critically injured and required a ventilator. Deputies from the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department shot Mernack after he pointed a gun at them; he was taken to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries and placed under guard. A warrant was issued charging Mernack with aggravated assault, bond set at $200,000, and prosecutors were reviewing further charges. Rebecca’s death was the first homicide in Machesney Park since 2008.

If anyone knew Rebecca, her family, or saw activity near that apartment around December 28, 2016, please come forward with information.