Remains in river not Lisa's or Stacy's
Last week's discovery of human remains near the Des Plaines River sparked hope that they would solve the mystery of what happened to Lisa Stebic or Stacy Peterson.
But forensic testing revealed the bones belonged to neither of the missing mothers.
The remains were those of an unidentified male, state police reported Wednesday. Investigators are working to discover the identity of the male who's partial skeletal remains ended up on the river bank in Channahon Township.
Stebic's relatives hope the remains ultimately can be identified by police so "another family gets closure," said Melanie Greenberg, Stebic's cousin.
Stebic, a Plainfield mother of two, vanished in April 2007. Her family has been searching for her ever since.
Speculation that the human remains could be Lisa's heightened their emotions. They hoped it was her, but were terrified to find out.
"It's putting us through, again, all of the additional agony and the yearning to find her. It's excruciating, and it intensifies it," said Judy Ruttenberg, Lisa's mother, Tuesday. "The anticipation is just heart-wrenching. Not knowing is worse than knowing."
"It's a rollercoaster ride we've been through a couple of times before, but we're disappointed. We hoped it was Lisa," Greenberg said, after learning the remains were from a male.
The situation wasn't any easier for Stacy's family. Her husband, Drew Peterson, is being held in the Will County Jail on a charge he killed his third wife. The remains could have belonged to Stacy, who disappeared in October 2007.
Pamela Bosco, a spokeswoman for Stacy's family, said they patiently endured the wait for DNA results.
"It's always been a very active situation for us. We've always felt like we've been living it every day," Bosco said.
The results of the DNA test were "very disheartening, very disappointing," Bosco said. "We still need the closure -- and we' re not getting it."
Lampinen is researching the psychological consequences for family members when a loved one goes missing. The study is funded by missing person organization Let's Bring Them Home.
The study has produced some preliminary results. For instance, family members of missing people report that news of unidentified bodies intensifies their anxiety, Lampinen wrote in an e-mail interview.
Despite their overwhelming fear, the family in each case would go to extraordinary lengths to find out if the unidentified body was their missing loved one, even if evidence indicated otherwise, said LaDonna Meredith, president of the board of directors for Let's Bring Them Home, in an e-mail interview.
"Even while the families need and actively pursue closure, instances that could bring that closure -- the discovery of an unidentified body, for instance -- cause great anxiety and emotional harm to the family members," Meredith wrote.
None of the families involved with Let's Bring Them Home or in the ongoing research were able to find closure, even if their missing loved one's body was found, Meredith said.
Lampinen mentioned a study published several years ago that found parents of missing children suffer more distress than parents of murdered children.
"That's a striking finding, and the reason for the difference undoubtedly has to do with the ability to gain psychological closure on the event," Lampinen wrote.
It's possible for families of missing people to find closure, they say, but it's rare.
Instead, families develop varied coping mechanisms, both harmful and healthy.
Lampinen said one goal is to examine the families who coped successfully, in hopes of sharing their strategies with other families of missing people.
For more information about Let's Bring Them Home, visit www.lbth.org .
Sun-Times News Group reporter Dan Rozek contributed to this story.
