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Missing Chicago man’s body identified

Kankakee County authorities have identified a body found in a field two years ago as that of a former Chicago resident who disappeared in 2008.

A test matched the DNA from the body of Ray J. Acklin with that of his mother, Patricia Acklin Steward of Chicago.

Acklin, then 43, was last seen April 25, 2008. The Army veteran was to meet his mother and his wife at an Indiana casino.

On April 1, 2009, Acklin’s decomposed body was found in a grassy area near the rural Kankakee County community of Sun River Terrace.

Authorities say a search by a deputy coroner of a national missing person database helped investigators in determining the body’s identification.

Although a cause of death hasn’t been determined, authorities believe Acklin’s death was a homicide.