Background Investigation

With no additional leads, police launched a full investigation into the Mondelos. Louise Wilson and Lyle Mondelo had met at college while receiving Business Degrees in Management. They married in college and moved to Highland Park, Louise’s hometown, after graduation. The former town was still ailing at the time, suffering from the shut down of the mines a little over a decade ago. Although at first Lyle thought their business prospects in the small town were poor, he soon discovered that money could be made developing land for private lodges and ski resorts that employed most of the residents.

Upon returning to Highland Park, Louise ran into her old High School sweet heart, John Wayne Gretzky and while talking to him, she learned that he was in the same business as she and Lyle. Glad to see an old friend, and thinking that a favorable business relationship could develop, Louise asked John to meet with her and Lyle over dinner. Lyle and John soon became friends, and rather than compete for business against each other, the three decided to join together and start Tumbling Water Land Development Company.

About a year after Tumbling Water was founded, Louise conceived her first child, Wally. Friends of the Mondelo’s said that Lyle suspected Louise and John of having an affair at the time, and the two nearly divorced. The couple, however, worked out their relationship with the help of a marriage counselor.

Tumbling Water became prosperous and was able to buy several hundred acres of land adjacent to Blackrock River, a prime recreational stream. Soon thereafter, Louise had another child, Jan, and took leave from the offices to work from home while she raised the two children. Friends say that Louise never really went back to Tumbling Water, even after the children were older and in school. Their friends also suggested that Lyle and Louise’s relationship was healthier with them not working together.

Tumbling Water’s lawyer told investigators that she began preparing bankruptcy papers for the company about a year ago; the ski resort was dragging out negotiations for a property purchase and the company’s other business deals weren’t making enough profit to keep the business afloat. Soon after being asked to begin the bankruptcy filing, though, she said an unexpected deal was made to build a number of fishing cabins on the Blackrock River land. That was enough to keep the business going, and after that, Tumbling Water began making deals at a steady rate.

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