Will County Seeks Help Finding This Man's Murderer

JOLIET, IL - The Will County Sheriff's Department doesn't want to let the mysterious slaying of Himer Vazquez, a 35-year-old man from Atlanta, become a Will County cold case. Back in June, highway workers for Will County stumbled across the body of a then-unidentified man in the Green Garden Township area. The location of the man's body was near the 7000 block of Manhattan-Monee road was not far from the intersection of Harlem Avenue and a couple miles from Interstate 57, according to the sheriff's department. The victim suffered multiple gunshot wounds had been there for several days. Complicating the homicide investigation, there was no identification found on the victim's body. Finally in August, the investigation had a breakthrough. The Will County Coroner's Office announced that enhanced fingerprint analysis conclusively determined the murder victim was Vazquez, a resident of Atlanta, Georgia.

This week, Will County Sheriff's Department Chief Deputy Rick Ackerson told Joliet Patch that sheriff's investigators have traveled to Georgia to conduct interviews and gather more information about Himer Vazquez in hopes of finding his killer. Ackerson said there were a couple people in Georgia that Will County investigators still want to question but they can't be located at the moment.

Ackerson told Patch that solving the Vazquez slaying is incredibly important to Will County and the slaying remains a high priority. It would help, Ackerson said, if anybody who may have known Vazquez or had contact with him, perhaps through employment or socially, would come forward and pass along their information to sheriff's police.

Along those lines, it would definitely help the case if Will County can determine how long Vazquez may have been in the Joliet, Will County area prior to his homicide, Ackerson said.

"We are asking the public if they know of any information regarding the homicide or information about Himer Vazquez, to please contact the Sheriff's Office Investigation Division at 815-727-8574," Will County Sheriff's spokeswoman Kathy Hoffmeyer added.

For more Patch coverage about this case:

• Body Found Near Joliet Was Atlanta Man

• Will County Releases Photos Of Unidentified Victim

• Multiple Gunshot Wounds Killed Male Found By Highway Workers

Image of Himer Vazquez via Will County Sheriff's Department