Decomposing human remains found in Maine Twp. forest preserve

A decomposing human head and torso were found in the Lions Woods forest preserve Thursday morning - just weeks after part of a body from the pelvis down was found in Arlington Heights.

But officials said it's too early to tell if the two deaths are related.

A U.S. Department of Agriculture employee stumbled across the body about 11:30 a.m., said Cook County Forest Preserve Police spokesman Steve Mayberry.

The worker was conducting a field study of otters when he believed he saw a human body by the shoreline of the Des Plaines River, which runs through Lions Woods. The forest preserve is near the intersection of Golf Road and Des Plaines River Road in Maine Township.

"The worker then went down closer and determined that it was, in fact, human remains," Mayberry said.

The remains consist of a "badly decomposed" human head and torso, Mayberry said.

There was some soft tissue still intact, Mayberry said, but it was decomposed to the point where ethnicity and gender were not immediately identifiable. There were no clothes on the remains.

Mayberry said some of the early focus of the investigation after the discovery consisted of using a DuPage County sheriff's dog to try to locate any other remaining body parts at the scene.

"We recognize that there could, in fact, be more remains out there," Mayberry said. "Anytime you don't find a whole body, obviously you want to find the rest of it."

Mayberry said that as far as he knew, the dog had not found any other remains by the time the investigation wrapped up for the day at sundown.

The head and torso were collected by the Cook County medical examiner's office, which plans to conduct an autopsy this morning.

The Cook County sheriff's police are handling the bulk of the investigation, Mayberry said, as the forest preserve district police does not have its own investigative unit. Police are asking the public to stay away from the area of the forest preserve where the body was found, but they are not shutting down the Des Plaines River to normal river traffic.

Arlington Heights police would not comment on whether they took or will take any part in the investigation.

Arlington Heights police are still seeking the upper half of human remains they discovered wrapped in a garbage bag behind Marketview Apartments on April 16. Medical examiner's officials said the body was severed just above the pelvis by a sharp instrument, such as a blade.

The office could not determine the victim's identity or age, or the time of death, but they do know the remains were that of a white or Hispanic man.

Police have said they believe the upper half of the body is no longer in Arlington Heights. Marketview Apartments is approximately 5 miles away from the Lions Woods forest preserve.

The police last month released images of the body's three tattoos. Two of the tattoos are of a joker, also known as the "Laugh Now Cry Later" image, which in this case is believed to be gang-related. The image of the joker smiling appears on the man's right pelvic area with the sad joker on the pelvis' left side.

Only the bottom half of the tattoos was visible since the top half of the images was removed along with the upper half of the body.

Police also found the letter "C" just above the man's right knee. The "C" is about one-inch tall and the joker is about three inches tall, police said.

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