Schaumburg cops still trying to solve woman's mysterious death

The investigation into the death of a Schaumburg woman found burned in an office building parking garage Nov. 30 is still active, but has made no measurable progress in more than a month.

In fact, the Cook County Medical Examiner has not yet ruled on 32-year-old Shefali Bhagwanjee's cause of death, or whether it was a suicide or a homicide.

Nevertheless, Schaumburg police say there's no cause for concern for those who use the parking garage at 1600 McConnor Parkway where Bhagwanjee's body was found at about 9:40 a.m. on a Monday.

"We have no reason to believe the public is in any danger," Schaumburg police Sgt. John Nebl said.

Nebl added that evidence at the scene hasn't decisively tipped the scale between the possibilities of murder and suicide.

Some death investigations are more complicated than others, Nebl said. He cited the recent example of Chicago Board of Education President Michael Scott.

In that case, the medical examiner's office ruled Scott's death a suicide the very next day, yet Chicago police still felt a need to continue their own investigation for weeks afterward.

In the case of Bhagwanjee's death, the medical examiner's office is awaiting the results of toxicology tests and completion of other aspects of the investigation, Nebl said.

According to friends, Bhagwanjee moved to the U.S. around 2004 and worked in real estate. She was born in India and she and her husband had two sons, a toddler and a newborn.

Bhagwanjee's husband declined to comment Wednesday on his wife's death, saying he needed more time to recover.