Decomposing Animal Body Found Dumped In Trash Bag Was Raccoon: Will County

MONEE, IL — The body of an animal found dumped in a trash bag in Monee earlier this week was determined to be that of a raccoon, Will County Animal Protection Services said Friday.

Will County Sheriff's deputies were called Tuesday at 3:45 p.m. to an area near Ridgeland Avenue and Bruns Road, for a garbage bag that possibly contained a deceased dog.

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Deputies at the scene found a decomposing body of what appeared to be a small dog inside a bag discarded on the shoulder of the road. Crime Scene Investigation was called in to process the scene, and Will County Animal Control was called to take possession of the deceased animal, according to Will County Sheriff's Office Public Information Officer Elizabeth Matthews.

The body was in an advanced state of decomposition, said Will County Animal Protection Services Administrator Anna Payton in an email Friday. Its species could not initially be determined.

"Examinations have now been completed, and it was determined that the deceased body was a raccoon," Payton said.

Payton went on to say that there is no connection between the Monee incident and an ongoing investigation in Crete, where six dogs were found tortured, killed and dumped last month.

In that case, the dogs' bodies were found March 3 by Crete Township Highway Maintenance workers, near Norfolk Avenue and Kings Road in Crete Township.

The dogs showed bite marks and signs of dogfighting, Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow said, but appeared otherwise healthy. All ranged in age between 9 months and a year and a half.

"... Apparently, they outlived their usefulness," Glasgow said at a news conference Monday. "But anyone who would do this, to six living things, is an incredibly dangerous person."

Glasgow and other officials speaking at the conference would not disclose an exact cause of death for the dogs, only stating that they had not been humanely euthanized.

"The savage brutality from this case is something that I just, I'm hard-pressed to think of it," Glasgow said. "Obviously, I don't want to diminish crimes against people for one second, but this is just something out of a really bad movie."

In the Crete Township case, a $5,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to an arrest and charges.