Hundreds turn out for Peterson vigil

BOLINGBROOK--About 200 people, 50 members of the media and two black dogs made the walk Saturday evening from the residence of the late Kathleen Savio to Stacy Peterson;s house.

Friends and relatives arranged the candlelight vigil which covered the two blocks separating the residences of Drew Peterson's third and fourth wives.

Stacy Peterson, the 23-year-old wife of the 53-year-old Peterson, vanished from the couple¹s Pheasant Chase Court home 22 days ago. State police have called the case a "potential homicide" and named Drew Peterson a suspect.

Pink and blue ribbons were tied around every lamppost and tree on Pheasant Chase Court as supporters were given candles with paper cups around them to block the wind and rain.

"This vigil is keeping the awareness out there," said Shawn Cothron, a Bolingbrook resident who spent Saturday morning searching a forest preserve for Stacy Peterson. Cothron has been searching because one of his relatives is a friend of Drew Peterson¹s 15-year-old son.

"I just want to help find some answers, especially for the kids. I think that's what everybody wants," he said.

Some at the rally made signs which read, "2 Beautiful Women plus 1 worthy cause = justice"; "No one is above the law" and "Watch out. We're P.M.S.-ing. Grrr!" Bolingbrook police officers stopped traffic to allow the vigil past the intersection of Lilly Cache Lane. Some neighbors watched from their windows while others came out and joined the procession as it passed by.

When the vigil reached Stacy and Drew Peterson's house, marchers who had been carrying signs set them on the front porch.

Anne Tarbell doesn't know Stacy Peterson or Kathleen Savio, Drew Peterson's third wife who was found dead in her bathtub, but the Bolingbrook woman traveled with the procession despite needing the use of a walker.

"I can't stand that women are being beaten up and murdered," she said.

"Domestic violence has to end."

Reporter Brian Stanley can be reached at (815) 729-6079 or bstanley@scn1.com