Wendy Gessing Case A 'Very Active Investigation': Crest Hill PD

CREST HILL, IL — Wendy Gessing has now been missing from Crest Hill for seven months, and the police agency leading the missing person's investigation has provided little information about the status of the case during much of that period.

On Tuesday evening, Crest Hill Police Chief Ed Clark spoke with Joliet Patch's editor to let people know that Gessing's disappearance remains a "very active investigation."

Her case is being worked on regularly and "there has been a lot of technical information and data" to sort through," Clark said.

The chief also indicated several recent searches in the Joliet and Crest Hill area have been done to attempt to find Gessing. Clark declined to say whether detectives are treating her disappearance as a homicide.

The chief also declined to say whether detectives have found any physical evidence, such as clothing, as a result of the searches.

On Tuesday, Clark confirmed there still has been no bank account activity or social media use by Gessing since she disappeared June 12, 2021.

Last fall, Gessing's boyfriend, Scott Harris, told Patch that Gessing has not contacted him, or her family members, including her mother. She has a sister who lives in the Coal City area, a brother in Nevada and an adult son who lives in the Joliet area, according to Harris.

At the time of last fall's interview, Harris said he did not believe Gessing ran away or left the Joliet area to start a new life somewhere far away.

At the time of her disappearance, Gessing and Harris had been dating for about 14 years, living together at a house on Hosmer Lane just a few blocks away from the Pizzas By Marchelloni takeout restaurant that they managed and operated.

Last summer, police reported that Gessing disappeared from the Pizzas by Marchelloni near the corner of North Raynor Avenue and Theodore Street.

Harris, who was not working at the time, has previously told Patch that he learned Gessing took a phone call and left work to give someone a ride somewhere. Harris has said that he went to the Lockport Moose Club on the day Gessing went missing.

Harris has said that he goes to the Lockport Moose on many weekends, when he has a chance to get away from work to socialize.

On Tuesday, Clark told Patch that he is not saying whether anybody has been cleared in connection with Gessing's disappearance.

When asked about Harris and Gessing's adult son, Clark said the family of Gessing "remains very cooperative" with the police investigators.

Less than a week after her disappearance, Gessing's gray Honda CRV was discovered along a dead-end street in the 400 block of Buell Avenue in Joliet, which is close to Western Avenue. By that point, her cell phone had been recovered in the village of Romeoville, several miles away, in the area of Taylor Road, authorities have said.

Early on, Crest Hill police distributed missing persons posters that led people to believe that Gessing went to the Motel 6 in Joliet off McDonough Street, based on a review of a nighttime surveillance video of the parking lot of the Motel 6 property.

However, Harris and one of the managers of Motel 6 told Patch last year they did not believe the woman in the Motel 6 surveillance video was Gessing.

Clark told Patch that his agency continues to receive regular help on the missing person's investigation from the Will County Sheriff's Office as well as the FBI.

When asked whether Crest Hill now know with certainty the very last place where Gessing was positively spotted by someone, Clark told Patch, "Let's just say we're making some progress on that."

Related Joliet Patch coverage:

Wendy Gessing Missing 6 Months: Crest Hill Police Have No Updates

Buell Ave. Remains Big Part Of Wendy Gessing Mystery

Was Missing Person Wendy Gessing Really At Motel 6 In Joliet?

Wendy Gessing's Boyfriend Waits For Answers From Police