Post by Lorie Taylor on Jun 5, 2008 9:43:21 GMT -6
Missing woman's husband says she left him
By Erika Slife and Matthew Walberg
Tribune staff reporters
6:02 PM CDT, October 31, 2007
A Bolingbrook police sergeant whose wife has been missing since the weekend told the Tribune on Wednesday he believes she simply left him for someone else.
Sgt. Drew Peterson, 53, said in an interview at his home that when he spoke with his wife, Stacy, 23, on the telephone Sunday night "she said she was leaving."
State police said Stacy's cell phone has not been used since Sunday night.
"I believe she's safe," he said, his voice cracking with emotion. "Sorry, I get choked up about it. I believe she's with someone else, but I believe she's safe."
Peterson, unshaven and exhausted, said his wife's disappearance has been overblown by the news media. The case has drawn national attention.
"The media is flaring it up," he said. "I still have to answer and meet with people with a cloud hanging over my head. I still have to live with the aftermath of the media hype."
Peterson, the mother of two young children, was last seen dressed in a red jogging suit about 10 a.m. Sunday by her husband, a 29-year veteran of the Bolingbrook department. He told authorities she had left home to meet with a relative and help rehab a home. But she never showed up for that meeting.
One person close to Stacy Peterson doubted Wednesday afternoon that she would have voluntarily left her children.
Her family spent Sunday trying to reach her by phone, Bolingbrook Police Lt. Ken Teppel said. When they couldn't, they went to the Illinois State Police early Monday to report her missing.
Teppel said there were no signs of foul play and investigators are treating the disappearance as a missing person case.
He said state police are investigating the case because it involves a member of an officer's family.
Stacy Peterson is Drew Peterson's fourth wife. A previous wife, Kathleen Savio, 40, was found dead in an empty bathtub in her Bolingbrook home on March 1, 2004, officials said.
At the inquest hearing, Will County Coroner Patrick O'Neil said Savio drowned. Although the bathtub was dry, her hair was wet when she was discovered and her fingertips were wrinkled from being in water.
Investigators speculated the water must have drained from the tub and a coroner's jury ruled the death accidental. State police also investigated Savio's death. No charges were filed.
Will County State's Atty. James Glasgow, who was not in office at the time of that case, said Tuesday he wants to review the Savio file.
"I was not the state's attorney when this case was processed, so for purposes of this investigation, this is being relooked at," Glasgow said, adding the jury's ruling at the 2004 inquest was not binding on his office.
He declined to discuss what, if any, connection there might be between the Savio case and the search for Peterson, saying only "there are some unusual circumstances in the 2004 [Savio] case."
A relative of Savio said Savio was nearing a divorce settlement at the time she died.
Glasgow would not say whether authorities have identified persons of interest in Peterson's disappearance, noting it is a missing person case, not a criminal investigation.
"Right now, we're at the very preliminary stages of the investigation and that kind of comment would be inappropriate," he said.
Peterson is a student at Joliet Junior College, where she is majoring in pre-nursing.
She is described as white with brown hair and brown eyes, about 5-foot-2 and 100 pounds.
Drew Peterson said he first met Stacy when she was 17 and he was 47.
"When I met Stacy, she was working at SpringHill Suites [in Bolingbrook]," he said. "We just hit it off, and one thing led to another. It wasn't something I planned. It was a very romantic time. It was very exciting."
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By Erika Slife and Matthew Walberg
Tribune staff reporters
6:02 PM CDT, October 31, 2007
A Bolingbrook police sergeant whose wife has been missing since the weekend told the Tribune on Wednesday he believes she simply left him for someone else.
Sgt. Drew Peterson, 53, said in an interview at his home that when he spoke with his wife, Stacy, 23, on the telephone Sunday night "she said she was leaving."
State police said Stacy's cell phone has not been used since Sunday night.
"I believe she's safe," he said, his voice cracking with emotion. "Sorry, I get choked up about it. I believe she's with someone else, but I believe she's safe."
Peterson, unshaven and exhausted, said his wife's disappearance has been overblown by the news media. The case has drawn national attention.
"The media is flaring it up," he said. "I still have to answer and meet with people with a cloud hanging over my head. I still have to live with the aftermath of the media hype."
Peterson, the mother of two young children, was last seen dressed in a red jogging suit about 10 a.m. Sunday by her husband, a 29-year veteran of the Bolingbrook department. He told authorities she had left home to meet with a relative and help rehab a home. But she never showed up for that meeting.
One person close to Stacy Peterson doubted Wednesday afternoon that she would have voluntarily left her children.
Her family spent Sunday trying to reach her by phone, Bolingbrook Police Lt. Ken Teppel said. When they couldn't, they went to the Illinois State Police early Monday to report her missing.
Teppel said there were no signs of foul play and investigators are treating the disappearance as a missing person case.
He said state police are investigating the case because it involves a member of an officer's family.
Stacy Peterson is Drew Peterson's fourth wife. A previous wife, Kathleen Savio, 40, was found dead in an empty bathtub in her Bolingbrook home on March 1, 2004, officials said.
At the inquest hearing, Will County Coroner Patrick O'Neil said Savio drowned. Although the bathtub was dry, her hair was wet when she was discovered and her fingertips were wrinkled from being in water.
Investigators speculated the water must have drained from the tub and a coroner's jury ruled the death accidental. State police also investigated Savio's death. No charges were filed.
Will County State's Atty. James Glasgow, who was not in office at the time of that case, said Tuesday he wants to review the Savio file.
"I was not the state's attorney when this case was processed, so for purposes of this investigation, this is being relooked at," Glasgow said, adding the jury's ruling at the 2004 inquest was not binding on his office.
He declined to discuss what, if any, connection there might be between the Savio case and the search for Peterson, saying only "there are some unusual circumstances in the 2004 [Savio] case."
A relative of Savio said Savio was nearing a divorce settlement at the time she died.
Glasgow would not say whether authorities have identified persons of interest in Peterson's disappearance, noting it is a missing person case, not a criminal investigation.
"Right now, we're at the very preliminary stages of the investigation and that kind of comment would be inappropriate," he said.
Peterson is a student at Joliet Junior College, where she is majoring in pre-nursing.
She is described as white with brown hair and brown eyes, about 5-foot-2 and 100 pounds.
Drew Peterson said he first met Stacy when she was 17 and he was 47.
"When I met Stacy, she was working at SpringHill Suites [in Bolingbrook]," he said. "We just hit it off, and one thing led to another. It wasn't something I planned. It was a very romantic time. It was very exciting."
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