Body Found In Illinois Is Not Stacy Peterson Or Lisa Stebic
JOLIET, Ill. (AP) DNA test results released Wednesday show a headless, armless skeleton found along the Des Plaines River last week was from an unidentified male, ending speculation the badly decomposed body was one of two women whose disappearances have drawn national media attention.
Results of an autopsy performed last week on the remains were inconclusive. The person had been dead several months or more, but the rib cage, spinal column and partial left and right femur bones were not enough to determine an identity, race or gender of the corpse, authorities said.
Shreds of blue jeans and a small amount of U.S. currency were also found along with the remains near the town of Channahon.
An investigation into the corpse's identity was ongoing, Illinois State Police said Wednesday in a statement.
The location of the remains in Will County prompted speculation they were related to the high-profile missing persons cases of Stacy Peterson or Lisa Stebic.
Stacy Peterson's husband Drew has pleaded not guilty to killing his third wife, Kathleen Savio. He contends Stacy, his fourth wife, left him for another man when she disappeared in October 2007 and is most likely living outside Illinois.
"We can take no joy or relief in the fact that it isn't (Stacy Peterson) because some family somewhere will be grieving," Drew Peterson's attorney, Reem Odeh. "But we hope this invigorates a global search for Stacy and brings attention to the fact that she is still missing."
Savio's death was originally ruled an accidental drowning. It was reclassified as a homicide after her body was exhumed and an autopsy conducted following Stacy Peterson's disappearance.
Drew Peterson is being held at the Will County Jail on $20 million bond.
Stebic, a mother of two, was last seen in Plainfield in April 2007. Authorities have named Stebic's husband Craig a "person of interest" in her disappearance but he is not charged with any crime. He has denied any involvement.