Updated: 06- 8-10
There may be a huge break in the disappearance of Drew Peterson’s fourth wife. Reports are being heard that authorities believe they may know exactly where the body is buried,
Law enforcement sources says … Peterson, an ex-cop who is currently behind bars awaiting trial for the murder of his third wife, told an inmate Thursday 3,2010 how he killed Stacy Peterson, wife number 4. Stacy’s body has never been recovered.
Sources say Peterson told the inmate he had an accomplice help him dispose of the body. The inmate then told authorities about his discussion with Peterson, which led them to the alleged accomplice. We’re told the accomplice informed Will County Sheriff’s officials and prosecutors that the body was buried just outside Peoria, Illinois.
Will County Sheriff’s deputies and prosecutors took the alleged accomplice to Peoria Friday, and the accomplice led them to private hunting grounds. The owner allowed authorities to enter his property and the accomplice then led them to the site where Stacy’s body was allegedly buried. The accomplice told authorities the body was stuffed in a metal drum that had been buried underground.
On Friday afternoon, authorities brought police dogs onto the property and word is they immediately took them to the place where the witness said the body was buried. Authorities then put prongs in the soil and hit a mass below ground that could be the drum in question.
Developing!
Updated: 06- 8-10
After days of searching an overgrown field in central Illinois for the body of Stacy Peterson, anthropologists have only discovered animal bones.
Last week, police headed to the field near Peoria after allegedly receiving a tip from former Bolingbrook police officer Drew Peterson’s fellow inmate. TMZ.com reported that Drew Peterson told the inmate where he buried Stacy’s body, but both the authorities and the Peterson defense team deny that story, pointing out that Peterson has been held in isolation.
NBC Chicago reports that anthropologist Alan Harn, who works for the Illinois State Museum, has only discovered opossum bones thus far, but thinks the use of a magnetometer could help. The device can help investigators find spots where soil has been disturbed.
Harn also stood by the tip about the whereabouts of Peterson’s body, and suggested the search continue.
The search is not expected to delay the trial of Drew Peterson, who has been charged in the murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio. Savio was found drowned in a bathtub in 2004, a death that was initially ruled an accident. But when Stacy Peterson went missing, the Savio investigation was re-opened and ruled a murder. Jury selection in the case is slated to begin July 8.
Prosecutors claim that Peterson murdered Stacy because of what she knew about his previous wife’s death, but no body has been found.
Illinois State Police told the Chicago Tribune Monday that “no timetable” has been set to resume the search for Stacy’s body, which was halted Saturday night.