Human Remains Behind McClintock Acres Subdivision Identified: Coroner

CHANNAHON, IL — Forty-eight years after three hunters found human remains near a Channahon creek bed on Nov. 9, 1974, Will County Coroner Laurie Summers announced that DNA testing determined that the bones have been identified as Harvey resident Donald Rozek.

Rozek was an Army veteran, the coroner's office announced on Wednesday. The cause of death for the Harvey man, however, remains undetermined.

Rozek's skeletal remains were discovered northeast of the intersection of Interstate 55 and Route 6 behind McClintock acres subdivision, the coroner noted.

In December 1993, the bones were exhumed by the Will County Sheriff's Office for further analysis, but the person's identity remained a mystery

"After Laurie Summers was elected Coroner in 2022, she continued to support the work of the cold case unit, encouraging genomic research, and agreeing to fund that aspect of these investigations," Wednesday's announcement noted.

In June 2021, the Will County Coroner's Office partnered this case with Othram Inc. in Woodlands, Texas and Othram’s developed a DNA profile to submit to Family Tree.

"As a result, their genealogists narrowed down family leads to a few people," Summers revealed.

Cold case investigators interviewed one man and "determined that he has an uncle that disappeared in 1971 or 1972 and was never seen again ... testing indicated this man and the unidentified are 100 percent related as uncle and nephew," Summers announced.

Additional investigations continue by both the Will County Coroner and the Will County Sheriff’s cold case investigators, Summers added.