Search for missing Volo woman, daughters continues Sunday
The search for a missing Volo woman and her two young daughters continued Sunday as Lake County Sheriff’s deputies again sought clues at boat launch areas and beaches in the Chain O’ Lakes while others revisited areas previously explored.
Lake County Sheriff Chief Deputy Wayne S. Hunter said there were no new leads of discoveries as of Sunday morning as they continue to look for Aneta Marsek, who with her daughters, Chevelle, 2, and Macenzie, 4 months, went missing Oct. 6 after leaving her parents’ Wauconda home.
On Saturday, dozens of friends and family gathered for a candlelight vigil for the 33-year-old woman and her children. A montage of photos stood in a frame on the front porch of her home. “We love you,” read the words taped around the photos. “Come home!”
For the first time since reporting their disappearance, Marsek’s husband, Dan Marsek Jr., put out a public plea for them to come home.
“Aneta, if you can see this, the whole family misses you, loves you,” he said. “We want you home. I love you. I miss you. Chevelle, Macenzie, daddy loves you, too.”
A teary-eyed Marsek then retreated into his wife’s home without taking questions from the media who had been invited to help spread the word of the disappearance. Dan Marsek has not lived in the home for some time. Aneta Marsek filed for divorce in June. Both Marseks filed for orders of protection against each other, records show.
Dan Marsek made a second appearance outside the home Saturday night as family and friends showed up to light candles and say prayers. The Rev. Scott J. Keenan led a group of about 60 people in prayer.
“We pray for Danny, their dad, who may speculate long and hard, but Lord, it is you alone who knows where they are,” Keenan said. “Keep them from all evil and harm. We pray that there has been no crime committed surrounding Aneta’s disappearance.”
Hunter said Dan Marsek appears concerned about the disappearance and “has cooperated fully.” Marsek allowed law enforcement officers to search the Volo home and his business in Fox Lake.
Aneta Marsek hasn’t used credit cards or her cellphone since disappearing, Hunter said. The cellphone has been turned off, which makes locating it impossible, he said. Marsek’s black Chevrolet Trailblazer, with the license CZAJA28 hasn’t been spotted, either.
“We just have not been able to find her,” Hunter said.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Marine Unit used two boats Saturday to search the shoreline of four lakes: Channel, Katherine, Marie and Bluff, said Sgt. Karen Kates, spokeswoman for the department.
“They are in boats looking at launches and landings and beaches to see if they can find anything at all,” she said. Hunter said he understood the family kept a boat in that area.
Deputies and others concentrated their search Saturday between Aneta Marsek’s parents’ home in Wauconda and her Volo house, looking for clues and talking to people along the route, Hunter said.
“At any given time we have 10 to 30 people in the search,” he said. “The grid search — a 10-mile range of her mom’s home and her home — is finished.”
Searches of retention ponds near the family home haven’t turned up any clues. The Law Enforcement Aviation Coalition and the Illinois State Police searched from the air, too, but weather prevented flying Saturday.
Kristi Kunish of McHenry, knows Aneta from working at the JCPenney store in Johnsburg and said 30 current and former employees are working on the project. Both women lost their jobs there — Marsek just about a month ago. Kunish now works for Dan Marsek in his auto restoration business.
Aneta Marsek filed for divorce in June, according to court records. Family members told ABC-TV Channel 7 that she had planned to move in with her parents.
Aneta Marsek had filed for an order of protection against her estranged husband, records show. The television station said Aneta Marsek had dropped her request.
Dan Marsek made his request Thursday, after reporting his wife missing Wednesday, records show. Hunter said Marsek told police he had not known about the disappearance for several days.
“He had no idea,” said Hunter. “They were in contact, but not daily contact.”
Kunish said the couple were separated but “working on it.” Dan Marsek has been staying with his parents, but both families are working together to find Aneta and the children, she added.
Stefanie Russell, whose husband, Chris, grew up with Dan Marsek in Wauconda, described Aneta as an “awesome mom.”
“We’re just hoping she needed time to breathe and think,” she said.
Police have no evidence of foul play, Hunter said, but they haven’t ruled anything out.
Working with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the sheriff’s police has sent out more than 9,000 faxed reports about the Marseks. The center also has alerted truck drivers in Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana, Wisconsin and Iowa, police said.
Aneta Marsek is about 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs about 150 pounds. She has brown hair and hazel eyes.
Chevelle Marsek is 2 years old. She has brown hair and brown eyes.
Macenzie Marsek is 4 months old. She has brown hair and brown eyes.
Kunish said she had no idea what might have happened or why Aneta left.
“She’s amazing. She’s happy. She’s loving,” Kunish said. She described Aneta as a “wonderful mother” and someone who could make her feel better when she was down.
“I’m just blown away,” she said.
Aneta Marsek’s brother, Will Czaja, joined the vigil Saturday at his sister’s home. He said his parents were too distraught to attend.
“The past few days have been very difficult for everybody,” Czaja told attendees of the vigil. “A lot of you have a lot of questions about why, what or what you could do. Keep doing what you’ve been doing, spreading the word of her disappearance. Keep looking for her. Aneta, if you see this, wherever you are, all these people showed up here tonight because they love you and are part of your life. Please come home. Mom and dad are devastated. They’re heartbroken. They want you to come home.
Information about the case is available at missingkids.com. A Facebook page with fliers about the Marseks has been created, too.
Anyone with information regarding Aneta Marsek and her children can call sheriff’s police at (847) 377-4250 or (847) 549-5200.
Ÿ Daily Herald staff writers Russell Lissau and Mick Zawislak contributed to this story.