Terhan Gordon's Skeletal Remains Found In Mokena 9 Months After He Vanished From Joliet: Coroner

JOLIET, IL — The Will County Coroner's Office of Laurie Summers confirmed very late on Friday night that the human remains discovered this week in Mokena were those of missing 36-year-old Joliet resident Terhan Gordon.

"This is the office of Will County Coroner Laurie H. Summers reporting that skeletal remains found in a field located at Townline Road and Oakwood Dr in Mokena, which were discovered on March 24, 2026, at approximately 4:05 p.m. were positively identified as Terhan F. Gordon age 36 of Joliet, Illinois, who was reported missing by his family in July of 2025. The Will County Sheriff’s Police are investigating this case. Final cause and manner will be determined pending police and other reports," her Facebook post read.

Although the Joliet Police Department did not classify his disappearance as one of its 2025 homicides, Gordon's family believes that multiple people were involved in kidnapping, killing him and concealing the whereabouts of his slain body.

Gordon was last seen alive on June 27 on the east side in Joliet.

"Since that day, our family has lived with unanswered questions, constant worry and a pain that never fades," the family's statement to Joliet Patch from January read. "Although there has been limited contact through third parties, there have been no confirmed sightings, no direct communication from Tehran himself and no explanation for how a son, a father, a brother, an uncle and a cousin could seemingly vanish.

"Each day without clear answers deepens our fear and heartbreak. More than six months have now passed, and this is not a routine amount of time for someone to be missing under unexplained circumstances."

On July 9, Joliet police announced that the silver Pontiac G6 sedan that Gordon was believed to be driving at the time of his disappearance was found abandoned and is now in their possession. Joliet police have not disclosed where Gordon's vehicle was discovered, other than to say that it was found in another community.

Back in November, Joliet Patch interviewed Joliet Police Detective Sgt. Tizoc Landeros and he explained that Gordon's disappearance was being classified as "missing under suspicious circumstances."

"We have no explanation for the disappearance," Landeros said at the time. He pointed out Gordon has no history of going missing for days, weeks or months at a time.

During that November interview, Landeros told Patch they did not believe Gordon went into hiding or left his community on his own.

"He was definitely seen in the Joliet area," Landeros said. "We don't have any evidence of him being outside the Joliet area."