Bodies found along bike path

Construction crews paving a bike path found the bodies of two adult men wrapped and bound Thursday morning in unincorporated Lemont Township."The bodies were found just a short distance from Route 83, and could be easily seen from the roadway." Cook County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Penny Mateck said. "These bodies were not hidden."Wrapped separately in bedding, plastic and bound with packing tape, one of the bodies was soaked in blood. One of the victims appeared to be either Hispanic or black, Mateck said.Because crews have been regularly working on the path just off Route 83 near Jeans Road, Mateck said the bodies were not there for very long."Based on the location of the bodies, our detectives think they were dumped no earlier than late last night or no later than early this morning," she said.The victims were taken to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office. Mateck said autopsies will be conducted today. She did not know the age of the victims or the cause of death.Officials are calling the case a death investigation until further details emerge. No further information was available from the medical examiner's office late Thursday.The Cook County Medical Examiner's office was called to the site along Route 83 after crews arrived for work around 7 a.m.The bodies were found at the construction site of the Centennial Bike Trail, which is north of the Illinois Michigan Canal, according to Lemont police.The Centennial Trail, a joint project with the Cook County Forest Preserve, links Lyons and Lockport, and connects with the IM Canal State Trail.The Cook County Forest Preserve is leading the investigation, with the Cook County Sheriff's Department conducting the detective work. 512307Investigators search for clues Thursday in unincorporated Lemont Township in the deaths of two men found wrapped in plasticTanit Jarusan | Staff Photographer 512332A tent marked the location along Route 83 near Lemont where work crews discovered the bodies of two men early Thursday along the construction site of the Centennial Bike Trail.Tanit Jarusan | Staff Photographer