Body identified as that of missing woman

THORNTON -- Police have confirmed that a decomposed body found in a field in the southern Chicago suburb of Thornton was that of a Park Forest mother who has been missing since January.

The identification was announced Friday.

Authorities used items from Dana Hayes' home to match DNA to the body found Tuesday.

The Cook County Medical Examiner's office said the 35-year-old Hayes was beaten to death.

Hayes disappeared Jan. 25, two weeks before the attempted murder trial of her former boyfriend, Terrence Coulter of Dolton, was to begin. His trial has been rescheduled for April.

The 33-year-old Coulter is accused of stabbing Hayes more than a dozen times in November of 2007.

Coulter has not been charged in Hayes' disappearance, but his bond was revoked and he was taken back into custody.