In her final days, Silvia Lopez’s marriage was crumbling.
The 25-year-old was estranged from her 40-year-old husband, Salvador. And just the week before she was reported missing July 6, she had threatened to take off with the couple’s four children.
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On Tuesday, after more than a month of uncertainty, her family received confirmation that the decomposed body found Sunday in a wooded area in Joliet was that of Silvia Lopez.
Will County Coroner Patrick O’Neil ruled the death a homicide, but declined to release a preliminary cause of death pending the police investigation. He also declined to say whether her wedding ring was among jewelry recovered from her body.
Silvia Lopez’s partially skeletonized body was found about 6:30 p.m. Sunday by two passersby near the southwest corner of Rosalind and Briggs Streets in Joliet Township, police said.
Joliet Police Chief Joseph Beazley said that on Sunday Salvador Lopez was “a stone’s throw” away from where the body was found, attending a rodeo across the street. Others who were there with Lopez said he bought everyone a round of drinks, then left.
“I don’t know if he knew the body had been found, but other people did know,” Beazley said, adding the identity of the remains was not known at that time.
Beazley said police have not ruled out anyone as a suspect. He declined to comment on reports that Silvia Lopez had a boyfriend.
The City of Joliet is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest, Beazley said.
Police, with the aid of a helicopter, had searched near the area where the body was discovered after she had been reported missing.
Beazley said police are exploring the possibility that the body may have been taken to the site later.
Even before the couple were married in March, their 10-year relationship was marked by charges of domestic battery against Salvador and criminal damage to property against Silvia, according to court documents.
“There was a lot of jealousy between them,” said her mother, Soledad Mendez in an interview shortly after her daughter was reported missing.
Police questioned Salvador Lopez Monday, but during questioning early Tuesday, he walked out without explanation, Beazley said.
Salvador Lopez had been cooperating with police, according to Joliet police Capt. James Grace.
He also kept vigil with his in-laws, and, on Tuesday, was seen leaving the Mendez home. He had little comment other than to say he was “very frustrated.”
He then drove off with a woman identified as his sister in his wife’s black 1997 Ford pickup truck, the vehicle she was driving the night she disappeared. The truck was found July 6 in the parking lot of Taco Hut, which is about a block from the Mendez home at 207 Henderson Ave., police said.
Shortly after the disappearance, Salvador Lopez talked openly about his marriage, acknowledging that the couple had problems.
A battery case is pending against him on charges he slapped his wife. In three previous cases, he was accused of slapping his wife and dragging her by the hair.
In February, Silvia Lopez received a year of probation after pleading guilty to trying to burn down Salvador’s home in September 1996.
After being convicted of contempt of court in January for violating an order of protection, Salvador Lopez was ordered to attend counseling and to stay away from Silvia Lopez.
The couple married about a month later.
The night before Silvia Lopez was reported missing, Salvador Lopez said he and his wife spent the day together with no arguments. They drove to DeKalb to check out a business they were thinking of buying. They even stopped in Blue Island for a cocktail before returning to his home, at 1621 Maple St., about 9 p.m., he said.
Salvador Lopez told police his wife left about 9:30 p.m., but when he called her house 15 minutes later, she had not arrived.
He phoned again Sunday morning and her mother said she was not home. The mother then called police and reported her daughter missing.
Salvador Lopez said he didn’t believe his wife would walk out on him and their four children, ages 1 to 10.
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“She’s never disappeared before,” Salvador Lopez said in a July 10 interview, adding they were working out their problems.
“We’re trying to fix things up and she takes off on me? I doubt it very much.”
But Silvia Lopez had left before, for one night a week before she disappeared. Her mother said Silvia and her four children checked into a Joliet hotel overnight following a dispute with her husband. Mendez said her daughter phoned, told her where they were and came home the next day.
Minutes after Salvador Lopez left the Mendez home Tuesday, Albert Mendez, the victim’s brother and the family spokesman, issued a warning, saying his sister’s killer will pay for “letting her rot. . . . We’re going to find you.”
Salvador Lopez has been to the home often since his wife disappeared to spend time with his children, Albert Mendez said.
But he indicated the family currently would not allow him to take the children alone. “He takes the kids and stuff, but not at the moment.”