IL IL - Alma Mendez, 38, Chicago Heights, 28 Oct 2007

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Cops: Mom Went For Jog, Never Came Home

"It was a routine for 38-year-old Alma Mendez: jogging in the Sauk Trail Woods Forest Preserve near her home in Chicago Heights.

Chicago Heights Police Lieutenant Michael Romano says Mendez was talking to her sister on a cell phone Sunday, right before Mendez started jogging.

"No abrupt ending to the telephone call. No need for alarm by the sister she was talking to. As a matter of fact, she was in good spirits, according to the sister, while she was outside doing her daily exercise routine."

Lieutenant Romano says Alma Mendez' car was found in the forest preserve. Locked.

Romano says investigators are concerned that Mendez may have been the victim of foul play.

Romano says Mendez is the mother of an 18-year-old boy, a 14-year-old girl, and a six-year-old boy.

Romano says Alma Mendez works in a dental office in Steger as office manager.

She was last seen wearing a blue jogging suit with white lettering on the jacket."



Chicago Heights is a south suburb of the city of Chicago. It is located close to the Illinois/Indiana border. I had trouble finding this article. My dad heard it on the radio. Alma works for a dental office, as does my mom who has recently had some weirdo lurking around her office. We are just over the border in Indiana, so we'll be keeping a close watch.
 
From her pic, she just looks so sweet and happy:
 
From the Tribune article:

Mendez is 4 foot 11 and 120 pounds. She was last seen wearing a navy sweatshirt and jogging pants, with red and white Skecher brand shoes.
 
I live near Chicago Heights. It's a little bit of a scary area where she was jogging. Something tells me her husband didn't have anything to do with it. I might be wrong though.
The news also said she had recently called her bestfriend and left a message telling her she had to tell her something important.
 
So, according to reports, she was still on the phone with her sister as she began her jog. Obviously this means she did not leave her phone in her vehicle. I know it was also reported that there had not been any activity on her phone since then which I guess means that she turned her cell phone off. If her phone was still on but she wasn't making any calls, there would still be activity in the form of incoming calls I'm guessing. I have not heard if there has been an attempt to ping her phone for the location. I have a bad feeling about this one.
 
I have a bad feeling about it too.

One of the news stories said that she went jogging every day at the same time and place. That's bad news. Predators can easily pick up an a routine like that.

I make my family members who run and bike vary their routines.

I wonder if there's any connection to the Nailah Franklin case here.

So sad.

Hoppy
 
Separated from her husband for 3 weeks makes my hinky meter go off
 
Separated from her husband for 3 weeks makes my hinky meter go off

Mine too! Especially with the "I have something important" message she wanted to tell her friend. Gosh, why didn't she just tell her then and there on voicemail. (Another "note to self" for me!)
 
It is being reported that a body has been found in a lake in her jogging vacinity.
 
Investigators searching for a missing jogger Tuesday afternoon found a body in a south suburban forest preserve. Now the work begins to determine if it is the missing mother of three.

~snip~

A volunteer searcher found this body between 1:30 and 2 p.m. Tuesday afternoon. It was no more than 50 yards off the jogging path that runs through the forest preserve. The body was found on the edge of Sauk Lake, or what residents in the neighborhood call 26th Street Lake.


http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=local&id=5733154
 
I have a bad feeling about it too.

One of the news stories said that she went jogging every day at the same time and place. That's bad news. Predators can easily pick up an a routine like that.

I make my family members who run and bike vary their routines.

I wonder if there's any connection to the Nailah Franklin case here.

So sad.

Hoppy

Yes, and like I said before this is not a nice place. There are places on the trail where no one can see you, and there are gang signs on crap. It might be the husband, but if you knew anything about the area you might not jump to that conclusion right away.
 
The body of a Chicago Heights mother, missing since she went jogging in Sauk Trail Woods Forest Preserve on Sunday, was found Tuesday floating in a lake just yards from the path, police said.

The condition of Alma Mendez's body was not disclosed, and Cook County Forest Preserve Police Chief Richard Waszak said the circumstances of her death were under investigation.

~snip~

A positive identification of the body had not been made, a spokesman for the Cook County medical examiner's office said Tuesday evening.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-mendez31_weboct31,0,2812419.story?coll=chi_tab01_layout
 
I just heard on WBBM radio out of Chicago that her throat had been slashed. How awful.

Hoppy
 
Well, there goes the "she fell into the lake accidentally and drowned" theory.

I remember hearing a forensic psychologist say (during the OJ trial) that throat slashing is an extremely personal way of keeping someone from talking.

Obviously the intent is to kill the person, but why not stab them instead? Whether it's true or not, I thought it was interesting...and if she really had something important to tell her friend, she sure can't now.
 
I heard last night that it was family members or family friends that found her (?) Any update on that? I thought it was curious.
 
Authorities say the throat of a Chicago Heights mother whose body was found Tuesday appeared to have been slashed. An autopsy scheduled for later today was expected to reveal the cause of death.

~snip~

Volunteers found the body floating about 15 feet from the bank of Sauk Lake and about 20 yards from the jogging path, authorities said.

Sonia Chavez , 33, a friend of Mendez's, was part of the search group Tuesday. About 1 p.m., she said she heard a commotion.

"I heard screaming, and they said, 'It's her, it's her!'" Chavez said.

She said she caught a glimpse of the body and what appeared to be Mendez's blue jogging suit.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-mendez_31oct31,0,4812858.story?coll=chi_tab01_layout
 
An autopsy today determined a woman was beaten and her throat cut before being found in a lake at a south suburban forest preserve Tuesday, the Cook County medical examiner's office said.

Authorities identified the woman as Alma Mendez, 39, of Chicago Heights, who had been missing since she went jogging in Sauk Trail Woods Forest Preserve on Sunday. Her body was found Tuesday floating in a lake just yards from the path, police said.

Investigators said today that her body was fully clothed.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-mendez_webnov01,0,1885736.story?coll=chi_tab01_layout
 
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/630812,CST-NWS-jogger01.article

Body in lake identified as missing mom of 3

November 1, 2007

Her family identified the body as Mendez, whose children are ages 5, 14 and 18. The dental office employee had separated from her husband three weeks ago.

"While the family has not yet met with the Cook County medical examiner's office for formal identification . . . a family member who saw the body on Tuesday has positively identified it," Mayberry said.
 
What will EVER stop this insanity?! Should we now have to include that in our marriage vows...."I vow never to murder you in a fit of anger should you decide to divorce me."?~
 

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