Skeletal remains recently discovered in a portion of the Greenbelt Forest Preserve on the southwest side of Waukegan might belong to a local woman, according to authorities.
Lake County Coroner Dr. Howard Cooper said that after a preliminary investigation and examination of the bones by a dental forensics expert and an anthropologist, it is believed the remains may belong to a woman who lived in the area and had been reported missing in the past.
But Cooper stressed that no conclusions can be drawn until DNA testing is completed.
Based on the preliminary procedures, Cooper said it looks like the person died a “natural death,” but he said that is based primarily on no evidence of trauma, such as a knife or gunshot wounds to the bones.
“There’s no guarantee. It’s a skeleton,” he said.
DNA recovered from the remains will be sent for testing early next week and Cooper said a positive match could be determined in a couple of months.
“Then we’ll go from there,” Cooper said.
Until then, no further information about the person’s potential identity will be released, according to both Cooper and Waukegan Police Cmdr. Joe Florip.
A report from the anthropologist who conducted the examination, which is expected to be completed in a couple of weeks, might shed light on how long the remains had been in the wooded location, Cooper said Thursday.
Cooper said the race of the individual has not been forensically determined yet.
Florip said on Friday that until a DNA match is confirmed or refuted, the investigation is primarily in the hands of the coroner, although it is in the overall jurisdiction of Waukegan police. He said police will take a more active role after the DNA results are completed.
At about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 22, Waukegan police officers responded to a call from a man who said he discovered the remains while walking in a wooded area near 10th Street and South Lewis Avenue, according to a statement issued by the department.
The intersection is on the east side of a portion of the Greenbelt Forest Preserve, which is part of the Lake County Forest Preserves, Florip said. North and east of the area are apartment complexes and businesses.
While there are no maintained trails in the area where the remains were found, Florip said that it is not uncommon for people to walk there with pets.
Florip said he does not believe the discovery of the remains presents any related threat to the community.
The discovery of the skeletal remains is not the first time a body has been found in the 600-acre Greenbelt preserve.
In December 1999, the body of a woman who had been tortured and murdered was discovered near the entrance to the preserve. She was identified as Mary Kate Sunderlin-Chamizo of Carpentersville, and authorities said she had been murdered elsewhere and dumped in the Greenbelt.
A 35-year-old man, Jason Strong, was convicted of the woman’s murder in 2000 and sentenced to a 46-year prison term, but his conviction was eventually overturned following a review initiated by Lake County State’s Attorney Michael Nerheim after he took office.
In 2007, the body of a 56-year-old homeless man from Arizona was found in the preserve near 8th Street and Chestnut Avenue, near Park City. Officials at the time said the man had been living in homeless camps around the North Chicago area and was known to have had cancer, and that the death might have been natural.
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