Skull, Remains Likely Those Of Missing Illinois Boy

PEKIN, IL — Skeletal human remains found Monday afternoon have not been positively identified, but investigators believe they are those of 13-year-old Robert Bee Jr., a Pekin boy who went missing last November. A pathologist said the bones are "consistent" with those of a 13-year-old boy. A person cutting grass behind a property south of Pekin discovered the bones shortly after 2 p.m. Monday, police told the Pekin Daily Times.

Police said the remains were likely scattered by animals, and told GateHouse Media Illinois that a skull was found inside a fenced backyard. The woods behind that property are owned by a person whose nephew is connected to the case, according to officials, who said the man who found the skull is not linked to the investigation.

The bones were discovered one day after volunteers searching for Robert Bee Jr. found a sweatshirt they believed may have belonged to the missing boy. That lead didn't pan out, and officials on Monday said the shirt was not connected to the teen, according to the Daily Times.

The 13-year-old was last seen on Nov. 17, 2016. Bee reportedly ran away from home as a truant officer arrived to take him to school. His mother, Lisa Bee, reported him missing on Nov. 18. "There have not been any confirmed sightings of Bee since he was reported as a runaway by his mother on November 18th," Pekin police said. Anyone with information on the case is asked to call the Pekin Police Department at 309-346-3132 or Crimestoppers at 309-673-9000.

Lisa Bee moved shortly after her son's disappearance and no longer lives in Pekin. Two months after he was reported missing, she was a no-show at a truancy hearing for her son, according to 100.3 WMBD.

A forensic pathologist who examined the bones found Monday believes they are Bee's, saying they are consistent with a 13-year-old boy's and are a presumptive match for the teen's dental records. But the remains won't be positively identified until DNA testing is conducted, a process that will take at least several weeks, according to a GateHouse Media report.

At a news conference on Tuesday, officials said an autopsy did not reveal trauma or point to a cause of death.

Robert Bee Jr./Pekin Police Department