'Suspicious' case's owner gets a surprise

The mystery of the unclaimed suitcase in Naperville that stopped trains, activated the bomb squad and locked down schools Wednesday was solved around dinnertime.

It's owner returned to the bush where he'd hidden it that morning -- then reported it stolen to police.

They already knew. They had it because the bomb squad has earlier x-rayed it before opening it up.

The man, who is homeless, said he simply intended to camouflage it in the bushes during the day so he didn't have to haul it around, Cmdr. Joel Truemper of the Naperville police said.

Witnesses saw two men place the suitcase in bushes along Ellsworth Street adjacent the 5th Avenue station Wednesday morning and reported it as suspicious.

As a precaution, police evacuated the station for several hours, stopped all train traffic through town on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad, and directed nearby schools to keep students inside.

Members of the DuPage County bomb squad then opened the brown suitcase at 2:13 p.m. after X-rays and other detection devices showed no signs of explosives, Naperville Cmdr. David Hoffman said.

It turns out the suitcase contained men's clothing and food -- in other words, the owner's possessions.

The man had arrived in Naperville on the train in the morning and found what he thought was a discreet hiding place for his belongings, Truemper said. Then he went off for the day, unaware of the events that unfolded.

He returned to the train station to retrieve his suitcase around 6:30 p.m. so he could check in at the PADS shelter for the night. That's when he and police finally connected.

"He said 'I tried to hide it inconspicuously," Truemper said.

Police do not intend to file any charges in the case, although detectives who spent the day investigating the potentially dangerous luggage gave the man a stern talking to about alternate methods of storing his belongings in the future.