Connection to tragedy motivates woman

Sister of murder victim feels need to help Stebic family

When she heard about the disappearance of Lisa Stebic, Suzanna Ibarra identified with the missing Plainfield mother's family in a way few others can.

Ibarra is only 3˝ years removed from her own family's tragedy. In January 2004, her sister-in-law was stabbed to death in her Plainfield hair salon by a boyfriend.

As soon as Ibarra heard Stebic was missing, the Joliet resident called the Plainfield Police Department to find out what she could do to help.

"We suffered so much, I felt like I had to do something," she said. "This situation is bringing up a lot of bad memories for me. ... It was upsetting me."

Stebic, also from Plainfield, was reportedly last seen the evening of April 30 by her husband, Craig, with whom she was in the middle of a divorce. No activity has occurred on her cell phone and credit cards, which vanished with her.

Police have named no suspects or positive leads in the case, which has gripped the attention of thousands after hitting major media outlets.

Ibarra was eager to help when hundreds of community volunteers and several search teams spent a Saturday hunting the area for any trace of Stebic. Since she found participating in the search to be too emotionally traumatic, she served hot dogs to the volunteers with the help of her two children.

"Me and my children agreed it's better to get out and help someone than sit at home and worry about the family," she said.

When she was asked at the search to meet Mark Greenberg, Stebic's cousin, Ibarra said she felt an instant connection and felt as though she could understand what he was going through.

"I held his hand and told him I'm so sorry," she said. "It was really weird, but it was powerful. I didn't know Lisa. But it's just very powerful to touch someone's hand - you can almost feel what they're feeling."

Ibarra also made 65 buttons featuring a photo of Stebic that volunteers distributed around the community. Recalling the last photo of her sister-in-law before she was killed, Ibarra wishes she could also see the last photo taken of Stebic.

"The last picture of my sister is like she isn't even there," she said. "It's like she had already left."

As soon as some conclusions can be reached in the case, Ibarra said she wants to meet Stebic's family members and offer the knowledge she gained after her sister's murder.

"I can tell you step by step about victim services in this area, and that's to my great misfortune," she said.

Contact Paige Winfield at pwinfield@scn1.com or 630-416-5275.