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More child's body parts found in Chicago park
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Police have found a toddler's decomposing body parts in a park on Chicago's West Side. USA TODAY
Chicago police late Sunday said that officers had recovered additional body parts after the remains of a dismembered child were found in a park earlier in the weekend. The department declined to release any further details about the later discoveries.
A passerby discovered a child's foot at around 4:40 p.m. Saturday in the lagoon at Garfield Park on the west side of the city and alerted police, said Officer Janel Sedevic, a Chicago Police spokeswoman.
After a further search in the area that day, police discovered additional remains of a child, she said. Police closed the park to launch a more thorough investigation.
"We've got detectives on the scene, marine units on the scene," Sedevic said. "The investigation remains ongoing."
Investigators with the Cook County Medical Examiner's office were examining the remains to try to identify the child, Sedevic said. The age of the child was still unknown, she said.
The investigation will use a combination of DNA, fingerprints and missing children's records from area schools to try to determine the identity and cause of death of the child.
Jason Ervin, the alderman for the district, said investigators told him the victim was likely 2 to 4 years old. Kids that age, Ervin said Sunday, would be noticed by relatives or neighbors if they went missing.
"It is unthinkable that someone would dismember a child and throw them into the lagoon," he said.
Investigators haven't determined the child's identity, police spokesman Anthony Gugliemi said. He said detectives were going through Chicago-area missing-persons cases to determine if there could be a link. There was no indication the remains were from more than one child, Ervin said.
Residents gathered on the perimeter of the park Sunday, speculating about how a child's remains may have ended up there. Perry Starks, 58, who lives a few blocks away, said there had been no alerts recently about any missing child.
"Usually someone would be asking, 'Where's my child?'" he said. "We haven't heard anything like that."
About a dozen detectives could be seen walking around the lagoon on an unseasonably hot day in the grim search for more remains. A police chaplain also arrived, saying as he walked by reporters that he was there "to provide moral support" to officers. He didn't give his name.
Guglielmi said police might be to drain the lagoon to make the search easier.
Residents described the park as a sanctuary for the lower-income community, with the lagoon that attracts urban fishermen and boaters, a swimming pool, baseball and football fields, as well as a vast, glass conservatory with palm trees and other exotic plants.
Garfield Park is well-patrolled and considered safe, said Ricky Smith, 54, who lives in the area.
"People come to this park because there are never shenanigans here," he said.
Starks said he recalls a fisherman snagging a body in the lagoon about 15 years ago. But he said he doesn't recall corpses being discovered on its grounds since that incident.
The recovery of a toddler's remains comes as the popularity of the park has boomed, including after extensive renovations, the alderman said.
"Garfield Park is the jewel of the West Side," he said. "This should not be a reflection on this community."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1EKdpUq
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More child's body parts found in Chicago park
UP NEXT
03
Police have found a toddler's decomposing body parts in a park on Chicago's West Side. USA TODAY
FILE - Garfield Park in Chicago, IL. Credit: Henryk Sadura, Getty Images/iStockphoto(Photo: Henryk Sadura, Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Chicago police late Sunday said that officers had recovered additional body parts after the remains of a dismembered child were found in a park earlier in the weekend. The department declined to release any further details about the later discoveries.
A passerby discovered a child's foot at around 4:40 p.m. Saturday in the lagoon at Garfield Park on the west side of the city and alerted police, said Officer Janel Sedevic, a Chicago Police spokeswoman.
After a further search in the area that day, police discovered additional remains of a child, she said. Police closed the park to launch a more thorough investigation.
"We've got detectives on the scene, marine units on the scene," Sedevic said. "The investigation remains ongoing."
Investigators with the Cook County Medical Examiner's office were examining the remains to try to identify the child, Sedevic said. The age of the child was still unknown, she said.
The investigation will use a combination of DNA, fingerprints and missing children's records from area schools to try to determine the identity and cause of death of the child.
Jason Ervin, the alderman for the district, said investigators told him the victim was likely 2 to 4 years old. Kids that age, Ervin said Sunday, would be noticed by relatives or neighbors if they went missing.
"It is unthinkable that someone would dismember a child and throw them into the lagoon," he said.
Investigators haven't determined the child's identity, police spokesman Anthony Gugliemi said. He said detectives were going through Chicago-area missing-persons cases to determine if there could be a link. There was no indication the remains were from more than one child, Ervin said.
Residents gathered on the perimeter of the park Sunday, speculating about how a child's remains may have ended up there. Perry Starks, 58, who lives a few blocks away, said there had been no alerts recently about any missing child.
"Usually someone would be asking, 'Where's my child?'" he said. "We haven't heard anything like that."
About a dozen detectives could be seen walking around the lagoon on an unseasonably hot day in the grim search for more remains. A police chaplain also arrived, saying as he walked by reporters that he was there "to provide moral support" to officers. He didn't give his name.
Guglielmi said police might be to drain the lagoon to make the search easier.
Residents described the park as a sanctuary for the lower-income community, with the lagoon that attracts urban fishermen and boaters, a swimming pool, baseball and football fields, as well as a vast, glass conservatory with palm trees and other exotic plants.
Garfield Park is well-patrolled and considered safe, said Ricky Smith, 54, who lives in the area.
"People come to this park because there are never shenanigans here," he said.
Starks said he recalls a fisherman snagging a body in the lagoon about 15 years ago. But he said he doesn't recall corpses being discovered on its grounds since that incident.
The recovery of a toddler's remains comes as the popularity of the park has boomed, including after extensive renovations, the alderman said.
"Garfield Park is the jewel of the West Side," he said. "This should not be a reflection on this community."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1EKdpUq
0) { %>
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