Police: N. Barrington woman's death may be a suicide
The body of a North Barrington woman who had been reported missing was found Thursday, and she may have taken her own life, police said.
Maria Carlsen's body was found near Wauconda on the north side of Route 12, about one mile southeast of Route 59, Lake County sheriff's police said.
Two bottles of prescription medication and a bottle of water were found with the body, sheriff's police said.
One of the prescriptions was for an anti-anxiety drug and belonged to Carlsen, police said. The other was an anti-psychotic medication and was prescribed to a relative, police said.
Carlsen's death may have been accidental or a suicide, police said.
The discovery came after a two-day search for Carlsen in the Wauconda area, including at the Lakewood Forest Preserve.
Carlsen was reported missing Tuesday. Relatives had told police there was a chance Carlsen could have harmed herself, Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran said Thursday.
Sheriff's Lt. Christopher Thompson said Carlsen has been missing since about 7 a.m. Tuesday, before she was due to board a plane for Boca Raton, Fla., to see her husband on Valentine's Day.
A limousine driver who was to take Carlsen to O'Hare International Airport for the trip reported she was not home when he tried to pick her up.
Carlsen spoke with her husband and daughter Monday about 2 p.m., Thompson said. It was the last time anyone spoke with her, he said.
Family members said Carlsen's bags were packed for the trip. She had even packed Valentine's Day cards for her husband and grandkids in Florida.
A search of the home found Carlsen's cellphone and jacket, but her purse and her BMW were missing, police said.
Police discovered the BMW in the parking lot outside J&Ds Bar and Grill at Route 12 and Old Rand Road, more than 3 miles from Carlsen's home. The empty BMW was in the parking lot when bar owners arrived at 9 a.m. Tuesday, police said.
The bar is about one mile from where Carlsen's body was found.
Officials used search dogs from the Cook County sheriff's office to check the parking lot of the bar. They also used helicopter thermal imaging support to search Lakewood Forest Preserve on Wednesday, Thompson said. That search came up empty.
Thursday morning, however, police got a tip about a woman seen walking alone on the shoulder of Route 12 about 1 p.m. Monday, Curran said. The woman matched Carlsen's description, he said.
“The witness told our investigators it was strange to have seen a woman wandering aimlessly by herself on Route 12,” Curran said. “It drew the attention of the witness, and after seeing the picture of the woman in the media, the witness phoned police.”
Officers searching for Carlsen discovered her body in a culvert near Ivanhoe Road, Curran said.
Curran said the investigation is still active and will remain open pending the outcome of an autopsy Friday.