Police continue search of Des Plaines River

CHANNAHON TOWNSHIP — Police continued to search the Des Plaines River on Thursday where human remains were discovered Wednesday afternoon.

"We are still searching the area as part of a thorough investigation," State Trooper Mark Dorencz said.

A dive team took part in Thursday's search.

Around 2 p.m. Wednesday, a barge crew that had been clearing logs and debris discovered a partial skeleton near the south shore, approximately a mile west of the Interstate 55 bridge, near the Big Basin Marina. The cleanup crew has been working in the area for the last four days, according to reports.

There has been speculation the remains may be that of Stacy Peterson, a Bolingbrook woman who disappeared in October 2007, or Lisa Stebic, a Plainfield woman who disappeared in April 2007. Police have called both cases "potential homicides."

But police had no other information to release Thursday.

Will County Coroner Patrick K. O'Neil examined the body at the riverside Wednesday afternoon and attended an autopsy performed at the county morgue Thursday morning. Police said the search was expected to wrap up in the early afternoon.

One news outlet reported police had found a blue barrel near where the remains were found, but law enforcement sources did not confirm that report.

During the investigation, a relative of Stacy Peterson's husband Drew Peterson, said he believed such a barrel may have been used to dispose of her body.

Kelly Hollis said she and her husband, Steve, were hiking near Moose Island, a little further down the river, when they saw a blue barrel.

"It was either late fall (2007) or early spring (2008) and at the turnoff, we looked across the river and saw a plastic blue barrel all by itself," she said.

The Hollises immediately thought of Stacy Peterson but thought the barrel at the shore was "too obvious" to indicate anything sinister.

"But it stayed in my head and a few days later I called the sheriff's police who put me in touch with the state police hotline," Hollis said. "I left a message with the story and the police said wait a few days and call back if I didn't hear from them, so I did."

Hollis said she was never contacted by state police, but she found it "a little freaky" when she saw a news report saying a blue barrel had been found Wednesday.

"We saw that quite a while ago. Could it have been there all along," she wondered.

"Since early on in the Peterson case, we have received many reports regarding blue barrels throughout the region and we have investigated all of them," Dorencz said. "We have begun marking them because many times we have gotten tips regarding the same barrel."

State police said further information regarding the remains found Wednesday would likely be released by the coroner's office.

"We have not matched these remains to (these) high-profile cases and we have not ruled it out," Dorencz said. "Whether it is one of those or another disappearance, this was a person and we use all of our resources to identify them whoever they were."

State police took over the investigation Wednesday evening and confirmed remains were found, but would not release any other information Wednesday.

State police Master Sgt. Thomas Burek addressed the media around 8:30 p.m., saying only that unidentified human remains were found.

As expected, also at the scene were Channahon and conservation police, both of whom have jurisdiction in the area, and representatives from the state's attorney's office and the coroner's office. Braidwood police brought their canine units. But Plainfield police, who have no jurisdiction there, were called in, too.

Plainfield police have been working on Stebic's disappearance since the Plainfield mom was last scene in 2007. Similarly, state police took over the investigation of Stacy Peterson, the missing Bolingbrook woman, because her husband, Drew Peterson, was a police officer.

But Burek wouldn't say link the appearance of state and Plainfield police to the Stebic or Peterson cases Wednesday.

"We're not attempting to associate with any particular investigation. It would be premature to do that," Burek said.

Boating to scene

The cleanup crew made their grisly find approximately three-quarters of a mile west of the Interstate 55 bridge, near the Big Basin Marina.

The shore area is only accessible by boat, so investigators spent time shuttling down the river from the boat launch at the marina on the river's north side.

O'Neil rode out to examine the body. Fifteen minutes later, the Channahon Fire Department brought a boat to the landing as news helicopters circled overhead. A forensic team was called in to search the area at 5 p.m. and police said they might need lighting to continue the investigation as the sun went down.

Peterson's family called

Relatives of missing Bolingbrook mother Stacy Peterson said they've been contacted by state police, who told them a woman's body has been found in the river near Channahon, though the remains have not been identified.

"We don't know who it is," said Pam Bosco, a spokeswoman for Stacy Peterson's family. "We're just being patient right now. We're waiting."

She believes there won't be any definitive word Wednesday about the identity of the body.

And Bosco said relatives realize the remains could be those of another woman, possibly missing Plainfield resident Lisa Stebic or someone else.

Bosco said Stacy Peterson's family members just hope the remains can be identified so a family somewhere can learn the fate of a missing loved one.

"We just hope they can identify who it is," Bosco said.

To the morgue

At 7:50 p.m., a skiff carrying detectives and a deputy coroner landed at the marina. A coroner's van backed up to the skiff. A deputy coroner and investigator carried a white body bag from the skiff and loaded it in the van. The drooping ends of the body bag showed that the remains were only about two feet long.

The river was reopened to barge traffic, and the coroner's van left en route to the morgue, where an autopsy will be conducted Thursday morning.

Herald News reporter Brian Stanley and Sun-Times News Group reporter Dan Rozak contributed to this story.