Vernon Hills police conducting death investigation after barricade on Friday

Police are conducting a death investigation after finding a decomposing body in a Vernon Hills home Friday, officials said.

Officers were conducting a well-being check on the 500 block of Saddlebrook Lane when they received information suggesting there had been a death in the home, according to a news release from the Vernon Hills Police Department.

Police briefly spoke with a man inside the home, however, he stopped communicating and barricaded himself inside, the release stated.

SWAT officers from both the Illinois State Police and Northern Illinois Police Alarm System were called to the scene, and when they entered the home, they discovered the decomposing body of an 81-year-old woman, the release said.

The woman’s 50-year-old son remained barricaded inside the home for several hours before being arrested by SWAT officers and turned over to Vernon Hills police. He was taken to the hospital to be evaluated.

The woman’s body was taken to the Lake County Coroner’s Office; her cause and manner of death is under investigation. Her identity was not released pending formal identification by the coroner’s office.