Body Wrapped In Plastic, Dumped In Woods: Will County Man Charged

BRAIDWOOD, IL — The Braidwood Police Department has arrested 57-year-old Custer Park resident Mark Ramsey on two counts of concealment of death. Ramsey is accused of dumping the body of 44-year-old Adam Watts in an isolated and wooded area.

On May 14, "Watts' body was discovered wrapped in several layers of material and plastic, that was ratchet strapped into a removed truck bedliner and dumped in a densely wooded area, in rural Kankakee County," the Braidwood Police Department announced in Tuesday's news release.

The investigation into Watts' disappearance was conducted by the Braidwood Police Department with the assistance of the Grundy County Sheriff's Office Pro Act Unit.

The autopsy ruled that Watts' cause of the death was an accidental drug overdose due to methamphetamine intoxication.

According to Tuesday's criminal complaint, Ramsey put Watts' body in the wooded area on March 5, which would have been two months before Braidwood Police publicized Watts' disappearance.

Braidwood's Police Department announced back in May that authorities were looking for Watts' gold 2001 Chevrolet Venture minivan with Illinois license plates “DF28356” at the time of his disappearance.

Lyons told Joliet Patch on Tuesday that the Chevrolet Venture belonging to Watts has never been found.

However, when Braidwood police initially arrested Ramsey back in May on the felony meth dealing charges, Ramsey had swapped out the license plates from his own vehicle, and he was using Watts' license plates from the missing Chevrolet Venture, Lyons explained.

"We are still looking for it," Lyons told Joliet Patch on Tuesday evening. "We've exhausted every possible option. We don't know the location of the vehicle."

Ramsey has not told Braidwood police what vehicle was used to dispose of Watts' body in neighboring Kankakee County, the police chief said.

Will County Jail logs show that Ramsey was incarcerated from May 20 until Sept. 27, facing felony charges from Braidwood police of meth delivery and possession of controlled substances.

As for Ramsey, he lives in the 37100 block of South Mack Road of Custer Park, court records show.

His bail was set at $500,000.

Previous Patch coverage:

Braidwood Man Found Dead, Gold Minivan Still Missing: Cops