Coroner IDs Human Remains In Vacant Joliet Building

JOLIET, IL — Last week, demolition contractors made a gruesome discovery, badly decomposed human remains inside an abandoned apartment building on Joliet's near west side. On Sunday, the Will County Coroner's Office announced the remains found at 22 North Cagwin Avenue were a 38-year-old homeless woman, Dana Fritsch.

Fritsch was positively identified through her tattoos, authorities said.

The autopsy that was performed, however, did not determine a cause and manner of death, the coroner's office revealed. The Joliet Police Department has been asked to do additional investigation surrounding the events of Fritsch's death.

Will County Jail records indicate that Fritsch was arrested by the New Lenox Police Department in late March on a temporary police hold for authorities in La Salle County.

At the time of her arrest, Fritsch's bail was set at $50,000 and jail logs identified her as being a resident of Sandwich.

On March 31, an Ottawa radio station published a short article about Dana Fritsch, headlined, "Woman Accused of Getting Violent With Ottawa Police."

The radio station reported that Fritsch subsequently booked into the La Salle County Jail for aggravated battery to a police officer, a crime that happened on March 15.

The apartment building in Joliet where Fritsch's decayed human remains were found had been the site of a bad fire in April that left the building uninhabitable.