Authorities unsure if Des Plaines, Arlington Heights remains related
An autopsy Friday determined the person whose severely decomposed head and torso were found Thursday in a forest preserve near Des Plaines suffered multiple cranial injuries with blunt force, a Cook County Medical Examiner's Office spokeswoman said.
Authorities said they are trying to determine whether the body parts found in the Lions Woods forest preserve, near the intersection of Golf and River roads near Des Plaines, and those discovered weeks ago by an Arlington Heights trash bin, are from the same person.
"They can't determine whether they are the same body because of the state of the body," Cmdr. Kenneth Galinski, chief of criminal investigations for the Arlington Heights Police Department, said after Friday's autopsy.
"It might require DNA tests. Right now they are trying to match the spines up. They haven't been able to put it all together yet. We have to wait until testing is done. It will be next week."
Hillary McElligott, the medical examiner who conducted the autopsy on the body parts found Thursday,
said while the results from the study of the bones will be available then, it could take weeks to get confirmation from a DNA match, often done in such cases when a body is badly decomposed.
Story continues below"We have a forensic anthropologist who takes a look at the bones to see if both sets of bones appear to be of the same sex and age," McElligott said.Arlington Heights police discovered the lower half of a body wrapped in a garbage bag behind Marketview Apartments on April 16 and have been seeking the upper half ever since. Cook County Medical Examiner's officials said the Arlington Heights body was severed just above the pelvis by a sharp instrument, such as a blade. The office has not determined the victim's identity, age or time of death, but they do know they are that of a white or Hispanic man. There were three tattoos on the body that are believed to be gang-related, police said. But "there was hardly any skin left" on the human head and torso found in the woods near Des Plaines, making it impossible to match up tattoos. "I hope it's him," Galinski said.The Cook County sheriff's office is handling the bulk of the latest investigation since the forest preserve district police does not have its own investigative unit. Cook County Forest Preserve spokesman Steve Mayberry said no more body parts were found Friday.A U.S. Department of Agriculture employee stumbled across the body parts along the shoreline of the Des Plaines River about 11:30 a.m. Thursday while conducting a field study of otters, Mayberry said. Police are asking the public to stay away from the area of the forest preserve where the body was found, but they are not shutting down the Des Plaines River to normal river traffic. <div class="infoBox"><h1>More Coverage</h1><div class="infoBoxContent"><div class="infoArea"><h2>Stories</h2><ul class="links"><li><a href="/story/?id=378985">Decomposing human remains found in Maine Twp. forest preserve <span class="date">[05/07/10]</span></a></li><li><a href="/story/?id=375061">Police hope tattoos help ID severed body <span class="date">[04/21/10]</span></a></li><li><a href="/story/?id=374038">Part of human body found in bag behind Arlington Heights apartments <span class="date">[04/17/10]</span></a></li></ul></div></div></div>