The digging through the rubble of what was the Paxton Hotel stopped abruptly at 5:25 p.m. Saturday when a firefighter broke away from the cluster of his co-workers and ran across the street.
“Chief, we got another one,” he said when he reached a group of Fire Department officials standing across from 1432 N. LaSalle St.
With that, the number of victims of Tuesday morning’s blaze climbed to 21, and the number of missing residents dropped to six.
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Later, Fire Department spokesman Mike Cosgrove confirmed that a partial body had been found. He said that a short time later other body parts were discovered nearby, but it was too early to say whether they were from the same victim.
Cosgrove said the body was unrecognizable, but another Fire Department official said the remains appeared to be that of an elderly man.
Earlier in the day, Cosgrove announced that the death toll had reached 20 because the Cook County medical examiner’s office had determined that portions of human remains did not belong to any of the other recovered victims.
Meanwhile, 11 people remained hospitalized Saturday, four of whom were listed in critical condition. A 12th person was released Saturday from Illinois Masonic Medical Center.
Cosgrove said the latest victim was found in the southwest corner of the building near a stairwell. He said investigators had not determined if the body was in a room because of the “tremendous amount of debris.”
The discovery came after almost a dozen hours of digging. All day, trucks from the city Streets and Sanitation Department lined up as workers used a bulldozer, steam shovel and crane to tear down and cart away debris.
Cosgrove said the debris was being taken to a location where it would be examined further.
A crowd gathered across LaSalle Street throughout the day to watch the search. One family, fearing the worst, spent the day distributing fliers with photos of Rachel Walters, 32, whose last known address was the Paxton Hotel, according to her sister.
“She knew we knew she was staying here, and we haven’t heard from her,” said Walters’ sister, Rose Carr of Milwaukee.
The digging ended at 7 p.m., and the flood lights that illuminated the scene were turned off. By that time, the search had left little more than the back wall of the single room occupancy hotel.
The digging will resume at 7 a.m. Sunday, Cosgrove said, adding that he believes that the Fire Department will conclude the search Sunday.
Cosgrove said investigators still have not determined the cause of the blaze, but said they have determined it probably started in the west end of the building.