Family member: Round Lake bones 'nothing sinister'
A woman who grew up on the Round Lake-area property where likely human remains were found last weekend said the bones belonged to her late father, Harold Spinney Jr., who found them while on vacation in the 1940s.
Spinney's oldest daughter, Bonnie, said the bones were among many quirky things her father — a World War II veteran and trader at the Chicago Board of Trade — had around the house or collected from resale shops.
She told all this information to Lake County sheriff's detectives, and even recognized the bones when she was shown photos of them, she said.
“There's nothing sinister about this. That's just my dad. He collected strange things. It's not foul play,” said Bonnie, who asked that her last name not be used for privacy reasons.
“It was something my father, an amateur archaeologist, brought back from Mexico or New Mexico, I can't remember which one. I thought they'd been stored in my grandmother's attic for, probably, years.”
She said her dad showed her the bones about 30 years ago, when she was in her 40s. She said she doesn't remember whether he provided any specifics.
“I didn't think anything of it,” she said. “It might be unusual for someone else, but not for him.”
Lake County sheriff's Det. Christopher Covelli declined to comment, saying only that it's still an “open investigation” until authorities determine whose bones they are and how they got there. The bones — skull fragments, teeth and one longer bone — have been sent off for extensive forensic testing. It could take months until the tests are completed.
Covelli said the bones appear to be human, possibly from a 7- to 9-year-old, and they are very old — at least 50 years old or “maybe even 100 years plus.”
They were found on a 13.1-acre property on the 33100 block of North Fairfield Road, just south of Nippersink Road in unincorporated Lake County. The property is still owned by the Spinney family, according to property records. They've owned it since 1946, Bonnie said.
A caretaker who lives in a house on the property discovered the bones March 26 in a dilapidated, abandoned shed. The shed was built in 1978 — 38 years ago, according to Avon Township Assessor Chris Ditton. It was in such poor condition that public works crews had to remove a wall so the police could gain access.
The heavily wooded property is in a rural area outside Round Lake and contains a house built in 1880, Ditton said. Bonnie said they've had caretakers — two of whom are missionaries — living in the house for roughly 20 years.
On Tuesday, a new chain and lock, connected by rusted old metal posts on either side, blocked the narrow gravel driveway entrance to keep unwanted visitors out.
According to a published obituary, Harold Spinney Jr. died in 2001 at the age of 91. Besides an impressive military career and 56-year career at the Chicago Board of Trade, he was a Round Lake school board member in the 1960s and a lifelong volunteer in the Boy Scouts of America. He was the founding Scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 2 in Wilmette in 1931 and Troop 222 in Round Lake in 1950, the obituary said.
• Daily Herald staff writer Mick Zawislak contributed to this report.