Murder Near Jefferson Street Update

JOLIET, IL - The Will County Sheriff's Department is keeping an extremely tight lid on information related to the latest homicide in the Joliet area. Around 9 a.m. Monday, a dead body was found in a wooded property north of West Jefferson Street near Houbolt Road. On Tuesday, authorities announced the person was the victim of a homicide, the victim was female and that's about it.

On Wednesday evening, Joliet Patch interviewed Will County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Dan Jungles. He indicated sheriff's officials don't want to release much information about the investigation at this stage for strategic reasons.

Jungles remarked how "the bad guys read the papers too."

Three days into the investigation, the sheriff's office has not revealed how the female murder victim was killed.

However, the homicide victim found on Joliet's west side was not someone who had been missing for years. The body is not that of one of Will County's high-profile missing women such as Stacy Peterson of Bolingbrook, Lisa Stebic of Plainfield or Will County Sheriff's Deputy Robin Abrams, who vanished in 1990.

Jungles did indicate the body was that of a recent homicide victim.

He told Patch that the body was not on the private property at roughly 5 p.m. on Sunday. Patch asked Jungles whether the Will County Sheriff's Department has a good idea of the homicide victim's identity, but he would not say yes or no.

Patch also asked Jungles whether authorities believe the woman was killed on the wooded property or whether this was a case of a body being dumped out there, but he declined to comment on that for investigative reasons.

Back in late February, the Will County Sheriff's Department was called to the scene of a grisly discovery on California Avenue, in Joliet's Forest Park area. A group of kids had found the body of 21-year-old Marissa Koziel, a former Manhattan resident. She had been reported missing by her family earlier that month.

Koziel had died from a single gunshot, and her body was dumped on Joliet's east side and left there for days. Nine months later, however, her slaying remains unsolved.

Body Dumped In Joliet Was Murder Victim: Sheriff's Department

As for this week's latest female murder victim found in Joliet, her body was discovered on private property in a remote location. The land is not considered part of the Woodlawn Cemetery property, Jungles explained.

Jungles said it's his understanding the woodland parcel consists of several acres and that it belongs to a private land owner. The sheriff's office has said that a man who was hunting on the property found the body on Monday morning.

Jungles would not say whether the detectives had any suspects or whether the investigation is making major headway.

At this stage, the Will County Sheriff's Department is pretty much handling the homicide investigation itself. Jungles said several county detectives are putting in 20-hour work days.

"We've been nonstop with it," he said.

Patch asked Jungles if his agency has tracked down video surveillance cameras; after all, there are numerous businesses up and down Jefferson Street, which is also U.S. 52.

"We've scoured all of Joliet in the last few days," he said.

Jungles estimated the investigations unit has probably received around 30 calls with leads, if not more, since the woman's body was found Monday morning.

If people think they have helpful information, they should call the Will County Sheriff's Office Investigation Division at 815-727-8574.

Images via John Ferak/Joliet Patch