IL - Tamara Schaidle, 58, found in IL River, being investigated as homicide, Peoria, 21 March 2023

[MntnHiker]

UPDATE: Police hope photos will produce leads in Peoria’s latest homicide

Tamara Schaidle was found in the Illinois River March 21, and the coroner said her injuries were “consistent with blunt force trauma and drowning by another.”

www.25newsnow.com

"On Friday, Peoria County Coroner Jamie Harwood declared Tamara D. Schaidle’s death a homicide. The body of the 58-year old woman was found in the Illinois River March 21, and Harwood said her injuries were “consistent with blunt force trauma and drowning by another.”

Police said they released two photos of Schaidle. She was last seen walking from Morton Street into the Constitution Garden Park near the Dan Fogelberg Memorial. Schaidle was wearing a black coat, blue jeans and white shoes, according to police."

 

[MntnHiker]

This is local to me. This area where she was found in the river and was last seen walking is in a riverfront park area that lots of people frequent. There are buildings nearby, there's sand volleyball courts, and on a nice day or weekend, it's bustling with people. She was seen there on a Monday and if I recall, the weather wasn't awesome, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was very quiet there that day, but I'm still surprised if something happened to her as she was walking this well-worn path. My husband and I just took a walk along this path a few weekends ago.

 

[MntnHiker]

Here is her obit. She was on a board that helped create the Dan Fogelberg memorial where she was seen walking that day.

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/tamara-schaidle-obituary?id=51510148

 

[Yemelyan]

Interested to see how this investigation progresses. Her obit is a bit different than some (or what you might expect to see) IMO.

 

[MntnHiker]

One of the articles mentioned Tamara's address; it is not near the riverfront and would not be walkable. Nothing I've seen has mentioned a car, so I am curious if she drove herself down there, took an Uber or cab, etc. Peoria does have both Uber and taxis available. There is also a public bus system as well (source: me living here)

The article I posted in post 1 says she was seen walking from Morton St. down to the Dan Fogelberg area. There is a building with a parking area near Morton St. where some people park to access this walking path along the river and I'm wondering if she parked there. Did they find a vehicle of hers? I'm also curious where the CCTV footage of her was from. It is very blurry; it looks like it may be from the walking path area as there appears to be a walking path in the screengrab with some sort of building behind her.

Not sure if I will have time this weekend but I may go back down there soon and see if I can figure out where that footage may have come from. We don't have cameras along the walking path that I am aware of.

 

[Snoopster]

Likely a dumb question but, was she reported missing? Or was the finding of her body the factor that got LE involved?

Did she regularly was down near the memorial? Had she told anyone that she was headed to that area that day?
Does anyone know what time of day that Tamara was caught on CCTV?

The weather that day shows no precipitation with a temp rising above freezing at 9am and rising to 54 degrees around 5 pm. This doesn't strike me as a terrible day, but then again I'm Canadian!

 

[Yemelyan]

Likely a dumb question but, was she reported missing? Or was the finding of her body the factor that got LE involved?

Did she regularly was down near the memorial? Had she told anyone that she was headed to that area that day?
Does anyone know what time of day that Tamara was caught on CCTV?

The weather that day shows no precipitation with a temp rising above freezing at 9am and rising to 54 degrees around 5 pm. This doesn't strike me as a terrible day, but then again I'm Canadian!

The news articles quoted above state that her family reported her missing the night that she disappeared (Monday), and then when the body was found in the river on Tuesday morning LE used that missing person's report, in part, to identify her. I think that MSM has only reported that the CCTV footage caught her walking on Monday (no time indicated at this point).

 

[MntnHiker]

To answer the question of whether she frequently walked down by the river, 8 years ago on her FB page she posted about frequently visiting this area to walk, have picnics etc. It was in a post advocating against building apartment buildings here (which did get voted down). I know we can’t discuss social media comments but if you search FB for posts on her, there are some comments about this too. Log into Facebook

I don’t think the weather that Monday was horrible but I think for daytime on a Monday and it not being a particular lovely day, foot traffic would be much lighter on this path. There is a gigantic gym complex not far from where her body was found with windows that overlook this area.

 

[MntnHiker]

No updates on this case that I can find by searching on Google or Facebook. And nothing else posted by the local police department. I also watch the local news every morning as I eat breakfast and there has literally been nothing mentioned since they declared it a homicide investigation. I really hope they can figure out who did this. It's too bad they aren't keeping it in the news, even just putting her picture/screen grab out again with the time (which they still never mentioned) and the date she was seen walking to see if anyone else comes forward having seen her that day.

 

[Snoopster]

The silence by LE is possibly telling.
What happened to Tamara?

 

[LadyL]

Interested to see how this investigation progresses. Her obit is a bit different than some (or what you might expect to see) IMO.

how so? looks normal to me

 

[I'm Nobody]

Here is her obit. She was on a board that helped create the Dan Fogelberg memorial where she was seen walking that day.

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/tamara-schaidle-obituary?id=51510148

Thank you for posting this. Fogelberg Foundation on FB has a nice tribute to Tamara with many wonderful comments. However, couldn't find mention on the main Fogelberg Fdn website. So very sad.

Dan Fogelberg Memorial Peoria IL

Dan Fogelberg Memorial Peoria IL. 8,320 likes · 31 talking about this. Musician/band

www.facebook.com

 

[kccorona]

One of the articles mentioned Tamara's address; it is not near the riverfront and would not be walkable. Nothing I've seen has mentioned a car, so I am curious if she drove herself down there, took an Uber or cab, etc. Peoria does have both Uber and taxis available. There is also a public bus system as well (source: me living here)

The article I posted in post 1 says she was seen walking from Morton St. down to the Dan Fogelberg area. There is a building with a parking area near Morton St. where some people park to access this walking path along the river and I'm wondering if she parked there. Did they find a vehicle of hers? I'm also curious where the CCTV footage of her was from. It is very blurry; it looks like it may be from the walking path area as there appears to be a walking path in the screengrab with some sort of building behind her.

Not sure if I will have time this weekend but I may go back down there soon and see if I can figure out where that footage may have come from. We don't have cameras along the walking path that I am aware of.

As a local, do you know if this park or walking areas are ever known for shady activities? From all I can find on FB it looks beautiful but wondered if there are any encampments or areas on the walking path that may be less safe?

The whole case really seems bizarre to me. The lack of coverage is concerning but maybe means there is more known by LE and family than they are able to let on to at this point?

 

[MntnHiker]

As a local, do you know if this park or walking areas are ever known for shady activities? From all I can find on FB it looks beautiful but wondered if there are any encampments or areas on the walking path that may be less safe?

The whole case really seems bizarre to me. The lack of coverage is concerning but maybe means there is more known by LE and family than they are able to let on to at this point?

The area of the path where she was seen walking - near where the Dan F memorial is and where her body ended up being found - is really well-traveled by runners, walkers, bikers, etc. and not known for shady activity at all. There is a huge gym complex right on the path and if you walk a little ways down (less than a quarter mile), there are restaurants, a museum, bars, etc. all very close to the walking path. On a nice day, there is a lot going on in this area. I have walked the path by myself many times and also sat to read a book on a bench right by the Dan F memorial and never felt unsafe, never had anyone approach me, etc.

I do know that if you walk the opposite way down the path (which I have also done), you come to a marina that is now defunct. When it was operating, it was also a pretty busy place, but now it is rather desolate. I feel that fewer walkers end up going down that way. I will also say that if you go a few blocks off of the path in this area, you do get into an area of higher crime, but like I said, I have not heard of anything like muggings, etc happening right on the path. That is why I'm so shocked someone killed her in what appears to be daylight hours (based on the CCTV screen grab) likely right near where she was found on this path.

 

[Phoenix Rising]

Tamara is a friend I met through the Fogelberg Foundation of Peoria. She was very protective of the memorial and often checked on it as it was vandalized several years ago. Over the years, that area has become less safe. When we were all gathered there on October 1 last year for a remembrance service for one of the board members, a homeless man with mental health struggles very vocally interrupted the service repeatedly until the police intervened. I have reported that incident to the detective. I have no idea what happened to Tamara...I only know the world is darker now without her.

 

[MntnHiker]

Bumping for Tamara. I did my weekly search of FB and online but nothing new about this that I could find. The news/police locally have not put anything else out about this since they announced it was a homicide investigation, which is very odd to me. Perhaps LE have leads and are tracking them down and will make an announcement soon?

 

[Phoenix Rising]

Bumping for Tamara. I did my weekly search of FB and online but nothing new about this that I could find. The news/police locally have not put anything else out about this since they announced it was a homicide investigation, which is very odd to me. Perhaps LE have leads and are tracking them down and will make an announcement soon?

I truly hope so. I want justice for Tamara.

 

[Yemelyan]

Bumping for Tamara. I did my weekly search of FB and online but nothing new about this that I could find. The news/police locally have not put anything else out about this since they announced it was a homicide investigation, which is very odd to me. Perhaps LE have leads and are tracking them down and will make an announcement soon?

I can't say this is always the case, but when LE is quiet like this it frequently means that they have a solid line of inquiry that they are following and I hope that is what's going on here.

 

[MntnHiker]

Bumping for Tamara

 

[Phoenix Rising]

Still thinking about Tamara and wondering if we'll ever know what happened.