ABC7 Chicago employee Anne Swaney’s murder remains unsolved 10 years later

CHICAGO (WLS) — Thursday marks 10 years since ABC7 Chicago’s Anne Swaney was killed on vacation in Belize.

Her murder remains unsolved.

ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

Swaney was visiting a horse ranch, to which she had previously traveled, when her body was found in the Mopan River.

An autopsy shows she was strangled.

Her personal belongings were found on a yoga deck next to the river at the eco-resort that attracted many Americans and Canadians who were avid horse enthusiasts.

Although Belize police were in charge of the investigation, FBI agents from Miami were also involved.

Swaney was the executive producer of digital operations at ABC7.

She was 39 years old.

Hanna Stables, the equestrian resort where she died, closed in 2021.

The FBI told ABC7 Chicago’s I-Team there are no new developments in the case.

And the $20,000 reward once offered by the agency is no longer.

“When you come in as a law enforcement agent into a foreign country, you’re there as their guest. You really don’t have any authority other than what they allow you to have. The longer the case goes cold, people move. People die. People’s memories are faded,” private investigator Steven Kirby said.

But Swaney’s memory lives on at Lockport’s Legacy Ranch.

“It’s hard to believe she’ll be 39 forever, and we’re all turning 50 this year,” best friend Sandi Moleski said. “She always said, ‘in retirement, I’m going to dedicate all my time to a therapeutic riding facility.’”

Moleski bought the Lockport property after Swaney’s death, with the purpose of creating a place where children and adults with disabilities could come for horse-assisted physical therapy.

“It’s grown over time. Zeus is one of 17 horses that we have here. And it’s really Anne’s memory to me that lives on here, her spirit that lives on here,” Moleski said.

Even as Moleski admits to have struggled with the circumstances surrounding Swaney’s death, it is in the thousands of families that have come through the Legacy Ranch since its inception that she finds solace, even as the heartache has never truly gone away.

“To see the pride in the riders’ faces when they’re here and they are able to experience this. To me, that’s Anne. That’s Anne’s gift back to all of us,” Moleski said.