Identified! IL - Will Co., Male body in Des Plaines River, May'09 - Gary Schmidt

[SeekingJana]

One would think that any reporter with good sense would KNOW that 30 lbs of bone were not going to ID anyone.

It's always been about the DNA. And in future cases with basically only bones to " autopsy", it will be too.

 

[scandi]

One would think that any reporter with good sense would KNOW that 30 lbs of bone were not going to ID anyone.

It's always been about the DNA. And in future cases with basically only bones to " autopsy", it will be too.

ITA SeekingJana and it is good to see you posting on this thread ;}

Giraldo has this case on next on FOX News. Even if allot of posters don't like him, he sometimes has a way of getting info and a point of view out there. xox

 

[TallCoolOne]

Hi TallCoolOne, I didn't realize you're from the windy city area. Neat. Have you heard anything today to see if they are still searching? Ta

Actually I'm about 90 miles west of the Windy City, in a very small rural area. I come here for my news also!!

 

[mysteriew]

If I'm not mistaken, a coroner's inquest is made up of random jurors unrelated to the case and the evidence is presented to them by the responding officers, ME, witnesses, and perhaps these two never stepped up at the time. Similar to a Grand Jury on a smaller scale, for the purpose of determination of manner of death. I don't even know if there was an "inquest" or if the ME determined the death to be accidental based on reports provided.

Does anyone know if there was an "inquest" because I imagine the Savio Family could have presented evidence of prior threats, letters, etc.

I think this was the ME and he alone.

So, in that case, no witnesses would have been called. But I'm not 100% certain. Not every death warrants an inquest. Only if "manner of death" cannot be determined by autopsy.

There was a coroner's inquest, and there was a policeman on that panel that heard the evidence about Kathleen's death. And that policeman told the panel that DrewP was a policeman and that he was a stand up guy. A few of the jurors have come forward since that time and talked about how what he said influenced their decision. Then the coroner's jury or panel voted that Kathleen's death appeared to be accidental.

 

[chicoliving]

IIRC, the officer that testified at the inquest was not the officer that normally would testify because he was on vacation at the time of the inquest. I'm not sure if the guy on vacation was one of the responding officers or not. I don't recall the titles/duties of either LE person and I'll try to hunt down that fun fact.

 

[cleo612]

IIRC, the officer that testified at the inquest was not the officer that normally would testify because he was on vacation at the time of the inquest. I'm not sure if the guy on vacation was one of the responding officers or not. I don't recall the titles/duties of either LE person and I'll try to hunt down that fun fact.

I pulled this from the Names list that I compiled back in February of 2008.

Robert Diehl works for the Illinois State Police. He is listed as a witness on an autopsy report for Kathleen Savio, dated March 1, 2004. He also attended the first autopsy that was performed on Kathleen's body in 2004. He was scheduled to appear and give testimony at the Coroner's Inquest, but was deemed unavailable as he was on vacation at the time the Coroner's Jury heard testimony. Herbert Hardy appeared in his place.



Herbert Hardy is a Special Agent with the Illinois State Police. He provided testimony to the coroner's inquest in May 2004 as the jury was trying to determine the cause of death for Kathleen Savio. He was filling in for the ISP officer who had been to the scene and was "on vacation and unable to attend." Hardy did not see the death scene, yet he told the coroner's jury, "And our investigation shows that basically, after the coroner's report and toxicology that she died from drowning," Hardy says" - "We believe that the laceration from her -- that she sustained to the back of her head was caused by a fall in the tub," Hardy said. "There was nothing to lead us to believe that anything else occurred." He also told the jury that they (ISP) were waiting for phone records to confirm Drew Peterson's alibi, and told them that the records had been requested. They had not been. He went on to tell the jury that it takes a long time to receive phone records.

Also this:

Pat Collins works for the Illinois State Police in the capacity of Sergeant. Two days after the death of Kathleen Savio, on March 3, 2004, Sgt. Collins appeared before a seated Grand Jury to discuss the investigation of Kathleen's death. He had been appointed by the Grand Jury to act in the capacity of investigator. According to Patrick O'Neil (Will County Coroner), "Sgt. Pat Collins of the Illinois State Police obtained the assistance of State's Atty. [Jeff] Tomczak's office on March 3, 2004, in his investigation." It is unclear whether the investigation returned to the March 2004 seated Grand Jury. Collins did not appear at the Coroner's Inquest in May 2004.

And this:

Walter Lee James sat as a juror on the Coroner's Inquest for Kathleen Savio's death. According to James, Dennis Pratl (a police officer) told the other jurors that Peterson was a nice guy and would not have done anything to hurt Kathleen. James stated that this information from Pratl swayed the jurors from calling Kathleen's death a homicide to an accidental death.

Dennis Pratl is a detective who specializes in internet-related crimes. He sat as a juror on the Coroner's Inquest for Kathleen Savio's death. According to Walter "Lee" James, another juror, Pratl told the other jurors that Peterson was a nice guy and would not have done anything to hurt Kathleen. James stated that this information from Pratl swayed the jurors from calling Kathleen's death a homicide to an accidental death.

Jim Pretto was one of the jurors seated during the Coroner's Inquest investigating the death of Kathleen Savio in May 2004. Pretto faulted investigators for failing to present enough evidence at the inquest and said that if he had known all the facts about the case in 2004, he would have called Savio's death a homicide. "There was no evidence at all to point toward it being a murder," Pretto said. "There was nothing presented at all." Pretto said that though the jurors on the coroner's inquest were suspicious, they did not have enough evidence to call Savio's death anything but an accident. "We had no other alternative," he said. "I think more evidence should have been presented, more investigation should have been done at the time."

As a side note: To the best of my knowledge, the transcript from the coroner's inquest has not been made public. Several news agencies had a copy of this document (Greta Van Susteren was one that I am aware of as she held it up and read from it during one of her programs), but it was subsequently pulled from public viewing. I have tried numerous times to gain access to this document, and was unable to do so.

 

[Leila]

Regarding the question of whether Drew is very bright -- he doesn't strike me as intelligent, he strikes me as cunning. When I see him in action, I see a goon and a . I have no reason to believe he'd have been asked to bring the potato salad to the Mensa picnic this year (even if he weren't in jail... :crazy.

I think that after he "successfully" murdered Kathleen Savio, he thought he was invincible, and could truly get away with murder. This might have been his undoing, as when he decided to get rid of Stacy, he only succeeded in drawing attention to himself -- and reopened the investigation on the death of his third wife. One could bet that if he hadn't taken matters into his own hands with Stacy, that he would have "let sleeping dogs lie", so to speak.

Kind of makes you wonder (yet again) why these guys don't just seek a divorce... It's a power, control, narcissism thing...

Skymom

Back at the beginning I put forth my opinion that DP had successfully gotten away with murder in regards to Kathleen, and perhaps others. He was comfortable and felt invincible, thinking he was smart enough to commit murder and get away with it.

He killed Stacy, but thinking he was invincible and would get away with this murder too, he was sloppy and made mistakes. He might have gotten away with this murder too if it had remained on the local level.

Never in Drew's wildest dreams did he think that Stacy's disappearance would garner national media attention. With that national media attention came the interest of some of the country's best forensic investigators. When Kathleen Savio's remains were exhumed and a second autopsy changed her death from accidental to homicide, that changed everything.

Drew couldn't have gotten away with murder if he didn't have some help. I don't believe anyone actually helped him commit murder, but it was other people in authority willing to look the other way or fail to follow through within the capacity of their job. Merely accepting Drew's word as fact instead of investigating further in some cases. As a police officer, Drew had access to records that helped him too.

Both Kathleen and Stacy were intimidated by the fact that fellow officers would believe Drew over them. I have no doubt that others who were suspicious of Drew felt intimidated too. This intimidation kept people quiet. Perhaps now, with Drew behind bars, people will come forward.

 

[mitzi]

Back at the beginning I put forth my opinion that DP had successfully gotten away with murder in regards to Kathleen, and perhaps others. He was comfortable and felt invincible, thinking he was smart enough to commit murder and get away with it.

He killed Stacy, but thinking he was invincible and would get away with this murder too, he was sloppy and made mistakes. He might have gotten away with this murder too if it had remained on the local level.

Never in Drew's wildest dreams did he think that Stacy's disappearance would garner national media attention. With that national media attention came the interest of some of the country's best forensic investigators. When Kathleen Savio's remains were exhumed and a second autopsy changed her death from accidental to homicide, that changed everything.

Drew couldn't have gotten away with murder if he didn't have some help. I don't believe anyone actually helped him commit murder, but it was other people in authority willing to look the other way or fail to follow through within the capacity of their job. Merely accepting Drew's word as fact instead of investigating further in some cases. As a police officer, Drew had access to records that helped him too.

Both Kathleen and Stacy were intimidated by the fact that fellow officers would believe Drew over them. I have no doubt that others who were suspicious of Drew felt intimidated too. This intimidation kept people quiet. Perhaps now, with Drew behind bars, people will come forward.

Bold mine.

They'll be crawling out of the woodwork, Leila.

 

[chicoliving]

CBS 2 has learned that Illinois State Police recovered more evidence from the Des Plaines River that sources say is related to a body found on the river bank on Wednesday.

~snip~

Police would not confirm that the items found Saturday were bones from the skeleton.

~snip~

The coroner said the gender of the body could not be determined but sources tell CBS 2 it appeared to be a woman, based on the clothing found with the remains.

http://cbs2chicago.com/local/Des.Plaines.River.2.1017836.html

 

[cleo612]

CBS 2 has learned that Illinois State Police recovered more evidence from the Des Plaines River that sources say is related to a body found on the river bank on Wednesday.

~snip~

Police would not confirm that the items found Saturday were bones from the skeleton.

~snip~

The coroner said the gender of the body could not be determined but sources tell CBS 2 it appeared to be a woman, based on the clothing found with the remains.

http://cbs2chicago.com/local/Des.Plaines.River.2.1017836.html

I am thrilled that they are still out there searching.

Hopefully they will be able to return all of the remains to the appropriate family, not to mention finding more evidence to use against whoever the perpetrator is that is responsible for this person's demise.

I sure wish I could be a fly on the wall in the DNA lab.

 

[SuziQ]

Thanks Chico! I hope they found a skull and can now do a dental match.

Leila, ITA, with what you said about DP not expecting the National attention Stacey's case got. In fact I think he thought so little of Kathleen and Stacey, that he just never imagined that so many people would care about them and ask questions at all. He greatly underestimated.

 

[Leila]

CBS 2 has learned that Illinois State Police recovered more evidence from the Des Plaines River that sources say is related to a body found on the river bank on Wednesday.

~snip~

Police would not confirm that the items found Saturday were bones from the skeleton.

~snip~

The coroner said the gender of the body could not be determined but sources tell CBS 2 it appeared to be a woman, based on the clothing found with the remains.

http://cbs2chicago.com/local/Des.Plaines.River.2.1017836.html

This is great news! Hopefully whatever evidence was found will help in the identification of the remains.

 

[chicoliving]

New evidence found in the Des Plaines River is linked to the human remains found earlier this week. State police confirmed to Fox Chicago News that items were taken out of the river in Channahon...not far from where human remains were found earlier this week.

Tera Williams has the exclusive report.

http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/Des_Plaines_River_New_Evidence

 

[Marsha]

I was just reading the news reports on a couple of different sites and the new remains are possibly a leg bone. I sure hope they dive all this week and find even more, if they haven't already.

In one report it said the new remains were found about a mile upstream from the other body parts. Does anyone recall if the barrel was upstream or downstream from the remains site? I had heard it was approx. 1 mi away also.

 

[scandi]

New evidence found in the Des Plaines River is linked to the human remains found earlier this week. State police confirmed to Fox Chicago News that items were taken out of the river in Channahon...not far from where human remains were found earlier this week.

Tera Williams has the exclusive report.

http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/Des_Plaines_River_New_Evidence

Thanks Chico, That is a nice Midnight surprise coming in to say goodnight! ;}

So they found a human leg bone today about a mile from the skelatonized remains of Wednesday. I read it alludes to them finding more than one thing, 'some items'. I wonder what they would find in the river water. That would be very hard to do and require special equip, right?

Also Chico, it says items of clothing were also found. Wouldn't you think that would help give a cursory ID?

 

[scandi]

I was just reading the news reports on a couple of different sites and the new remains are possibly a leg bone. I sure hope they dive all this week and find even more, if they haven't already.

In one report it said the new remains were found about a mile upstream from the other body parts. Does anyone recall if the barrel was upstream or downstream from the remains site? I had heard it was approx. 1 mi away also.

Hi Marsha, That's what I read too. I've seen the barrel marked on a map but don't think it noted the spot where the bones were found.

I just had a thought about my question above about finding things in the river itself. Maybe they floated and were caught in debris that was right at the edge of the bank. Maybe everything in the barrel came out at once!

I'm thinking implants, but it is a real stretch. If it is Stacy and she had saline implants they are moderately buoyant.

 

[Marsha]

Thanks Chico, That is a nice Midnight surprise coming in to say goodnight! ;}

So they found a human leg bone today about a mile from the skelatonized remains of Wednesday. I read it alludes to them finding more than one thing, 'some items'. I wonder what they would find in the river water. That would be very hard to do and require special equip, right?

Also Chico, it says items of clothing were also found. Wouldn't you think that would help give a cursory ID?

I hadn't heard about additional clothing.......that is also good news.

I want sooooo badly for this to be Stacy! One more nail in Drew's coffin.

 

[Marsha]

Hi Marsha, That's what I read too. I've seen the barrel marked on a map but don't think it noted the spot where the bones were found.

I just had a thought about my question above about finding things in the river itself. Maybe they floated and were caught in debris that was right at the edge of the bank. Maybe everything in the barrel came out at once!

I'm thinking implants, but it is a real stretch. If it is Stacy and she had saline implants they are moderately buoyant.

I had thought about the implants also. I hope if the barrel isn't connected that they drag the river for the container. I know that would cost a whole bunch but would sure like to see it done.

 

[scandi]

I had thought about the implants also. I hope if the barrel isn't connected that they drag the river for the container. I know that would cost a whole bunch but would sure like to see it done.

ITA It is hard to conceive of all these bones being so close together, so far within a mile, after the long time of 18 months. I will be amazed if we find out in the end the body was buried and not in a container. And if buried wouldn't they have found these bones in the woods?

After reading about Gesey{sp} the other night the river was a spot where he dumped many bodies, like 4 or 5. Maybe it has become known as a dumping ground and other bodies have been put there too. Oh, what a grisley thought, especially before lights out xox

 

[Marsha]

ITA It is hard to conceive of all these bones being so close together, so far within a mile, after the long time of 18 months. I will be amazed if we find out in the end the body was buried and not in a container. And if buried wouldn't they have found these bones in the woods?

After reading about Gesey{sp} the other night the river was a spot where he dumped many bodies, like 4 or 5. Maybe it has become known as a dumping ground and other bodies have been put there too. Oh, what a grisley thought, especially before lights out xox

I had thought about some kind of copycat thing......someone who had read blogs where Sandra B's site was published........just hope that isn't true. Stacy or Lisa please!!!!