Chris's Crime Forum

Stacy Peterson's Body? Could Take Weeks to Identify Remains

Police are facing major obstacles in identifying the body found along an Illinois river bank near the home of accused murderer Drew Peterson since the corpse is missing its head, arms and skin.

The office of Will County Coroner Patrick K. O'Neil said the body -- which many believe could be that of either Peterson's missing wife Stacy -- was clad in only women's underwear and shreds of blue jeans that held a small amount of money.

Since the corpse lacks a head, hands or feet, it has complicated identifying the body through dental records or prints.

"The partial skeletal remains consisted of a rib cage, spinal column and partial left and right femur bones," the coroner's office said.

The lack of skin has made it more difficult to obtain DNA. A coroner and a forensic anthropologist are working together to confirm the gender of the corpse and are expected to test the bone marrow to try and identify the remains, sources told ABC News affiliate WLS's Amy Jacobson.

The coroner's office said it will take at least two weeks to obtain the DNA and determine its match.

They are also trying to determine whether the head was severed before or after death, O'Neil said. Police are also searching for the body's head and other body parts.

Though officials acknowledge the body could be someone else's the similarities between Stacy Peterson and another missing woman, Lisa Stebic, are numerous. Both are of similar height and weight and both have had Cesearan sections after giving birth. They also disappeared within months of each other.

The discovery Wednesday of the decomposing body near Peterson's Illinois home has the potential to blow huge holes in his claim that his fourth wife simply ran off with another man.

http://www.abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=7642347&page=1

I just heard on Nancy Grace they have also found a blue barrel.The brother in law of Drew had told the story about Stacy being placed in the river in a blue barrel,sounds like it could be true.

Wow....I remember the blue barrel story. I suppose we'll have to wait and see...

CHICAGO (WBBM) - A forensic anthropologist who identified the remains of the Oklahoma City bombing victims and the boys and men murdered by John Wayne Gacy is weighing in on last week's discovery of a body in the Des Plaines River.

Dr. Clyde Snow says that even though DNA may help identify the remains, what’s left of the skeleton itself may yield some clues as to what happened, “Very often the bones turn out to be the best witnesses”.

Dr. Snow, who has not been called in as a consultant, says by now, investigators may have an idea of what happened to the deceased, if the clues are there.

"You would be looking for signs of injury that show up on bones.” Dr. Snow tells Newsradio 780, “In other words, you might find the obvious thing, of course, would be gunshot wounds.”

"You can see cut marks in stabbing victims, say, on the ribs, evidence of blunt force trauma,” Dr. Snow added.

Dr. Snow says investigators would also know by this point whether the body came apart in the river or whether someone dismembered it using a saw.

The Will County Coroner has said the skeletal remains include the rib cage, spinal column and partial left and right femur bones.

From that, perhaps, assuming the pelvic bone is there, forensic anthropologist Dr. Clyde Snow says investigators can determine the sex of the person and the approximate age.

"And I would want to look around the joints of the missing bones, for example, the knee bones: Is there any evidence of cut marks or saw marks that would suggest the person was dismembered."

The families of Stacy Peterson and Lisa Stebic are still waiting for some kind of closure.

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They have gotten DNA samples from both Stacy & Lisa's family.We should know within two weeks if this is either one of these poor women.

Remains found in Illinois are not Stacy Peterson NOR Lisa Stebic

They are of a Male

The remains found last week on the bank of an Illinois river and near a blue barrel are not those of Stacy Peterson, Illinois state police said Wednesday.


Many people speculated that the remains, found near the Des Plaines River less than 30 miles from the homes of Peterson and another missing woman, Lisa Stebic, meant one of their disappearances would be solved.

But testing done on the remains showed they belonged to a male, police said.

Officials had to conduct further testing on the "partial skeletal remains," consisting of a rib cage, spinal column and partial left and right femur, after a preliminary autopsy did not reveal any identifying information.

A marine cleanup crew discovered the remains in Channahon, Illinois, last week along with shreds of blue jeans and a small amount of money.

Stacy Peterson, 23 when she was last seen in October 2007, was former police officer Drew Peterson's fourth wife. They lived in Bolingbrook, Illinois, 20 miles from where the remains were discovered.

Her husband has been named a suspect in her disappearance, but he has maintained his innocence, saying she left him for another man. The ex-officer's stepbrother told police he helped Drew Peterson move a heavy blue barrel shortly after his wife's disappearance.discovered a woman named Michelle Williams found a blue barrel in the same area, many people expected Stacy Peterson had been found.

Though her case still remains a mystery, her family remains hopeful there will be a solution. Drew Peterson was indicted May 7 on charges he killed his third wife, Kathleen Savio. Savio died while the two were in the midst of a nasty divorce. The death was originally deemed an accident, but authorities took a second look at the case after Stacy Peterson's disappearance. Drew Peterson has pleaded not guilty.

Others had suspected the remains could be those of Lisa Stebic. Channahon is 15 miles from Plainfield, Illinois, where Stebic was last seen in April 2007.
On the day she disappeared, she petitioned a court to have her husband, Craig, evicted from their Plainfield home. Craig Stebic told police he was working in the backyard when his 37-year-old wife left home about 6 p.m., taking her cell phone and purse.

Authorities have said they believe that Lisa Stebic was the victim of foul play and have named Craig Stebic a suspect.

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Wow,I think most believed it was a woman because it was reported the body was wearing panties.Poor guy I hope he is identified and laid to rest.