Kane County coroner revisits unsolved 2009 Sleepy Hollow drowning

The body of a 19-year-old marine biology student who drowned in her own swimming pool on July 4, 2009, has been exhumed, as Kane County authorities look for new evidence to explain how it happened.

Coroner Rob Russell announced Monday that the body of Anna Mary Schneider of Sleepy Hollow was exhumed July 16. A new autopsy was done and the body has been reburied.

The Kane County Major Crimes Task Force documented the process, he said.

Russell said his cold-case unit has been re-examining Schneider's mysterious death for about four years.

In 2009, a forensic pathologist determined the cause of death as drowning, but ruled the manner - how it happened - undetermined.

The original toxicology report showed Schneider had ingested alcohol that day. Russell could not recall the exact amount, but said it was above .08%, the legal standard for being too impaired to drive. No other drugs were found in her body, he said, but he noted that some substances dissipate upon death.

"There are some new things we are looking at," Russell said, due to improvements in the science of death investigation. As an example, there could be better examination of trace evidence, he said.

He said the county's major crimes task force was not assigned to the investigation at the time of Schneider's death.

"It is my sincere hope that we can finally give the Schneider family closure in how their beloved daughter died, and soon," Russell said. He also said the family supports the continued investigation.

Russell was not coroner in 2009; he was elected in 2012.

According to a 2009 Daily Herald article, a female friend pulled Schneider out of the pool at 4:55 a.m.

Schneider was a sophomore studying marine biology at the University of Hawaii. She was a certified scuba diver, was a competitive swimmer since the age of 5, and was captain of the varsity girls swim team at Dundee-Crown High School.