Reporter's Pool Party Host Eyed By Cops

(AP)  The estranged husband of a suburban Chicago woman missing for more than two months was named a "person of interest" Thursday by police who also said they fear Lisa Stebic was the victim of foul play.

Police had previously been reluctant to name Craig Stebic as the subject of their investigation. The couple were going through a divorce, but they still lived together with their two children in the family's Plainfield home.

The case made news earlier this week when a television reporter covering the case was videotaped wearing a swimsuit at Craig Stebic's home. Reporter Amy Jacobson, who said she was just aggressively pursuing a source on her day off, was then fired by WMAQ-TV.

Craig Stebic was the last person to report seeing his wife on the evening of April 30; there has been no activity since on her credit cards, checking account or cell phone.

At a news conference, Plainfield Police Chief Donald Bennett said during the 10-week investigation, Craig Stebic has "offered only minimal assistance to detectives" and refused to participate in any searches organized by his wife's family and supported by the police department.

Bennett said that Stebic has twice refused requests by police and the Will County state's attorney's office to let investigators talk to his children — ages 10 and 12 — about their mother's disappearance

"Police have logged thousands of hours in this investigation and have pursued every viable lead," Bennett said. "Unfortunately, Mr. Stebic had denied investigators the crucial opportunity to conduct a thorough, in-person interview with his children."

Bennett said the children were among the last people to see their mother before she disappeared April 30, and said authorities believe they may have "valuable information that will assist in the investigation."

The police chief authorities have found no signs that Stebic left the house "of her own free will." Friends and family members detectives have interviewed in the case said Lisa Stebic never would have abandoned her children, and authorities are "now focusing on the scenario that she is most likely the victim of foul play," Bennett said.

Bennett declined to answer any questions from reporters.

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[nj_citizen]

CBS, be aware that this AP-provided article contains an error in the last paragraph:

"Jacobson has said she was heading out to go swimming with her children when Craig Jacobson's sister called her and asked her over to discuss the case. Her actions and subsequent dismissal ignited a debate about whether she violated journalistic ethics."

The author inadvertently substituted the reporter's surname for Stebic's.

[neegroidssuk]

Plus, name one person, who has been in the news, suspected of killing their wife that was found innocent? Posted by sassalin


OK, I'll name two: OJ Simpson and Robert Blake.

BTW, you're not "found innocent" you're found not guilty. Look it up on the internet if you don't understand the difference.

[raguel1]

How utterly silly it would be if she was just whisked away to Jamaica by some new man (or woman) in her life this whole time and comes waltzing back in a few more weeks of basking in the beaches....

[deepseas]

It's amazing how these people think they can get away with these type of murders. While I hesitate to say I know he did it, the stats and his behavior say he did.

Prisoners who actually admit to the crime say in a fit of anger they lost it and killed their mate, over the threat of losing them. As long as people can be blinded with rage, we will continue to see these type of horrors happen over and over again.

The reporter? She will suffer dearly from her poolside romps.

Stebic will have a lifetime of hell to think about his short term solution to anger.

[antoniof123]

Wow, the founding fathers would love some of these posts. I am glad that you all are so much smarter them they were just like the idiots in charge.

Hey people you are innocent until proven guilty and it is right to not allow the police to talk to his kids.

[cryonbrian]

Neatera

Stories about Blacks always draw a ton of nasty post. Even when there is a good story about Blacks, people post nasty comments. That will never change!

[sal567]

The husband had the motive and opportunity, so who else could have done this but he. I hope the authorities would aggressively pursue this and bring him to justice, for the sake of the children who could also be in danger.

[neatera]

Another white man kills his wife/girlfriend. If this were a black man, we would see all sorts of racist comments on this page. White people continue to talk about how bias black people are when it comes to these stories, but you white people are such idiots. I was just reading the story about the black pizza deliveryman who killed 10 ladies in the 80's and 90's and got what he deserved, the death penalty. This story was attached to a story of a white man who is charged with killing six women. The story of the black man got 8 pages of racism. The story of the white man got none of this and this story didn't either. Most whites that post comments on these stories are uneducated bigots who wish that for a day they could be black, this way they would not have to pay for all of the surgery and cosmetics to make themselves look black. As for this husband, kill his white a**.

[melissa4695]

I thought it was you are guilty until you prove yourself innocent. Where have you people been?

[blondmadison]

"twice refused requests by police and the Will County state's attorney's office to let investigators talk to his children . . . about their mother's disappearance "

Why is this legal for him to do in a missing persons case where the person is his wife and the mother of the children?

Dear Investigators:
Take the children out of the home and interview them away from the person who is afraid of something the children may have seen or may know.

DUH! DO YOU WANT TO SOLVE THE CASE OR NOT?

Since when do suspects or "persons of interest" call the shots in investigations of suspected foul play?

If he did nothing, he should fear nothing.

If he did nothing, he should be aiding the investigation with anything and everything he may have--and that would include the children of the missing person.

Is the would be prosecutor afraid of another Nifong/Duke debacle? So they do nothing instead?