Kenosha County authorities are seeking the public’s help in identifying a badly decomposed body found in late December along the shoreline of Lake Michigan in Somers, Wis., they believe has a connection to Waukegan.
At a news conference Tuesday, Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth said that due to the condition of the remains found on Dec. 28, nothing from foul play to suicide to an accident has been ruled out, but he added, "Someone knows who this is."
The strongest lead officials have to the identification of the body is that a Thorntons rewards card, found on a key chain in a pocket found with the remains, was used during several cash transactions made at the Thorntons service station at Sunset Avenue and Green Bay Road in Waukegan.
Kenosha County Medical Examiner Patrice Hall said those transactions occurred at the Waukegan Thornton’s between December 2012 and January 2014. Authorities said Thorntons surveillance tapes from that time period had long since been recorded over before the investigation started.
Beth and Hall said the find leads them to believe the person either made multiple visits to that station, or perhaps lived in Waukegan for a period of time.
Keys found on the chain included one for the trunk of an older model Cadillac, possibly a Seville manufactured in the 1980s or 1990s, as well as keys to an unknown residence. A lighter and a tube of ChapStick were also found in the pockets of the clothes.
Waukegan police said they have received no missing person reports fitting the situation, and the same is true for other police departments contacted in parts of Illinois and across Wisconsin, Beth said.
Hall said the condition of the body, which was skeletal and missing its head as well as some limbs, leads her to believe it was in the water for "months, if not more than a year."
She said that the Reebok sweater found with the body was likely made in 2015, according to the sports shoes and apparel company.
The person was wearing an triple-extra large jacket and the rest of the clothing was extra large, Hall said. Although she said her office has been unable to determine race, gender or age, the clothes, including underwear, were consistent with clothes a male would wear.
A smaller person could have been wearing the jacket, Beth said, but he said it is likely it was a "larger person."
Beth said both long-term-exposure to the water, as well as the effects of waves likely repeatedly slamming the body into rocks on the shoreline, made it impossible to determine whether there were any marks or other signs of foul play.
The remains were found by visitors near a steep, secluded ravine leading to the shoreline in Somers.
Beth said the Lake Michigan current in the area generally runs from north to south, and that officials were initially focusing on areas north of Kenosha County, including a missing kayaker from Port Washington who has since been ruled out.
Hall said the remains, which include only a partial skeleton and "a bit of tissue" have been sent to the University of North Texas for extensive forensic testing to help with a possible identification or at least further information about the person. She said that based on past experience, authorities are not expecting any results from the school for at least four to six weeks.
Authorities are asking anyone with possible information about the body to contact the Kenosha County Medical Examiner’s Office at 262-653-3869.
jrnewton@tribpub.com
Twitter @jimnewton5
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
