Ad company blunder 'stirs up emotions' for family of nurse slain in mass murder nearly 60 years ago
Whenever the family of Pamela Wilkening sees photos of her, grief instantly gnaws at them.
So when an advertisement aiming to attract people to the nursing profession featured a photo of her without their knowledge, it brought not only strong emotions but also a lot of questions.
Wilkening was one of eight young student nurses fatally stabbed and strangled by Richard Speck in a dorm-like townhouse on Chicago's South Side in 1966 in what would become known as the crime of the century.
"How did they end up with this picture?" Wilkening's nephew Keith Wilkening told the Sun-Times. "It just doesn't really go along with anything in the story. It's disappointing that they didn't check stuff out before, it really isn't anger it's just 'Why would you pick this picture?'"
The ad, run by international marketing agency MGID, read "Average nurse salary in 2024 is just mind-blowing (Take a look)," according to CBS2. The ad has since been taken down.
The company did not respond to requests for comment but emailed CBS2 a statement: "An internal investigation is underway to determine how this image passed through our moderation process," the statement said. "We deeply regret this oversight and apologize to the Wilkening family and the concerned viewer."
Compared to her classmates, Wilkening was quiet and studious, according to reporting from the Chicago Tribune. A few days before she died, she called her mother to cancel an upcoming trip home because of her demanding study schedule. She never spoke to her family again.
Speck died in 1991 while in jail serving a life sentence after lead prosecutor William Martin secured a guilty verdict after less than an hour of jury deliberation.
Five of eight student nurses slain in July 1966 in Chicago are seen in this picture taken in the dormitory, the last known photo of the student nurses. They are talking with student nurse friend, Judith Dykton, who is wearing a white cap. From left are Mary Jordan, Suzanne Farris, Nina Schmale, Velentina Pasion and Pamela Wilkening.
For Wilkening's family, the use of her photo wasn't quite offensive, just misplaced, Keith Wilkening said.
"There really isn't anything you can do," he said. "Hopefully they watch out and use the tools that everyone else has to figure out what the picture is of before they post something or publish something."
Even though he wasn't too distressed by the use of his aunt's photo, Wilkening said it's tough not to recall painful memories, specifically for his dad Jack, who was Pamela's brother.
"Anytime you see a picture, even with the videos last night of everything, even researching it, Googling her name to see what pops up, it brings back seeing pictures of my dad and everyone else at the mortuary," Keith Wilkening said. "The pictures do stir up emotions, I'm sure more from my dad than everyone else."
Keith Wilkening, who now lives in Indiana, was born 10 years after his aunt was killed, but his dad carries great sadness that the two never got to meet.
“I just would have liked her to see the kids,” Jack Wilkening said, crying, to the Chicago Tribune in 2016.