Family waits to hear if body is that of missing Rolling Meadows man
Authorities were working Friday to identify whether a body found in a sewer in Chicago is that of a Rolling Meadows man who has been missing since August.
Vasudevareddy Kethireddy, 76, hasn't been seen since Aug. 4 when he left his suburban home to collect rent money at properties he owns on Chicago's South Side. One of those buildings, at 62nd and May streets in the Englewood neighborhood, is close to where the body of a man was discovered in a street sewer around 10:30 a.m. Friday.
That's also two blocks from where Kethireddy's white 2005 Toyota Prius was found abandoned on Aug. 7, and also near where Kethireddy's credit cards had been used.
Rolling Meadows police said their detectives joined Chicago police at the scene Friday morning as part of their investigation into Kethireddy's disappearance. But they said the identity of the body is still unknown.
Family members said Friday they have been in touch with police but were still awaiting word as to the identity of the body.
"The (Cook County) medical examiner is looking at it right now and going over all the information to try to identify the body," said Shantan Kethireddy, the missing man's son. "We won't know conclusively as to whether it's him for the next couple of days."
The family had worked with Chicago community activist Andrew Holmes to pass out flyers and search the area over the last eight weeks, even offering a $10,000 reward for information.
His son said he hasn't ruled out foul play in his father's disappearance. Last year, the Rolling Meadows man was the victim of a carjacking and ended up hospitalized.
"I think whatever happened to him - if it's what we suspect - it was senseless," Shantan Kethireddy said. "It was for no good reason, because he would've given up what he had voluntarily and been happy to go home."
Vasudevareddy Kethireddy left his home at 8 a.m. Aug. 4 but was last seen eight hours later on video surveillance at the Chase bank branch at 6940 S. Ashland Ave., where he was depositing rent checks, his son said.
"As far back as I can remember, I've never known of a time where Dad did not show up at home at night or did not call - save for the one time when he got jumped in Englewood," his son said. "This is the second time, and it's been almost eight weeks now. That pretty much leads anybody to conclude what could happen."
According to his son, Kethireddy immigrated to the United States from Hyderabad, India, in 1971 and has lived in Rolling Meadows since 1977. He got involved in real estate in the mid-1990s and started buying multiunit houses in the Englewood area in the mid-2000s, rehabbing the properties and renting them out.
"Several of his tenants and the property manager told us he would rent to people that did not have any other options," his son said. "He gave chances to people that nobody else would give chances to."