| Subscribe Now |
![]() |
|
| Weather |
Bloomington-Normal, Illinois
|
| Home |
| NewsWednesday, June 11, 2008 5:58 PM CDT |
Missing woman's death investigated; foul play suspected
Husband taken in for questioning, no suspect in custody
MACKINAW -- Authorities suspect foul play in the death of 30-year-old MeLisa Cleary, a rural Mackinaw woman whose body was found Monday in Logan County after she went missing over the weekend. The body, which had obvious signs of trauma, was identified Tuesday as Cleary, who had been missing since Friday night. Tazewell County State’s Attorney Stu Umholtz said officials suspect foul play.
Cleary’s husband, Daniel, 34, and the three Cleary children were found about 3 a.m. Tuesday at a Peoria motel not long after an Amber Alert was issued, Tazewell County sheriff’s police said. Daniel Cleary was taken in for questioning, but police declined to say why. No suspect was in custody as of Tuesday, Umholtz said. Tazewell County Sheriff Bob Huston said the children are staying with an aunt. MeLisa Cleary operated a home-based day care center in the Heritage Lake area of rural Mackinaw. She was last seen Friday at her home. Her vehicle was found by family members over the weekend less than two miles from her residence. Her body was found Monday by Canadian National railroad workers in a rural area near Hartsburg in Logan County, authorities said. A preliminary cause of death has been identified, but police have asked Logan County Coroner Bob Thomas not to release that information pending the criminal investigation, Thomas said Wednesday morning. Thomas also declined to elaborate on what signs of trauma were apparent on MeLisa Cleary’s body, only saying family helped identify her body during an autopsy Tuesday in Peoria. Authorities are still trying to determine the time of death, he said, declining to comment on the possible location of death. Search for woman, family An Amber Alert was posted early Tuesday on the Web site of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. It said police were looking for Daniel Cleary and the couple’s three children: Chloe Renee Cleary, 3; Jacob Thomas Cleary, 8; and Kaitlin Elizabeth Roten, 12, who sometimes goes by the last name of Cleary. Before that, Mackinaw Police Chief Gary Hartzell said Cleary relatives were at a well-traveled intersection in Mackinaw on Monday afternoon, passing out fliers. He said they were organizing a search, and some people already had informally gone out to look. “It’s just a sad deal, to say the least,” said Hartzell. “It’s a shock to the system.” The chief called Tazewell County sheriff’s police to rein in the volunteer search because he was concerned searchers might disturb evidence. “What are the odds of this happening in a small town?” But he added anything can happen anywhere. After Hartzell called Tazewell authorities and learned of the body found in Logan County, the search was suspended in the Mackinaw area. The Cleary house remained cordoned off with police tape on Tuesday. Daniel Cleary did not respond to a request for an interview on Monday and family members said they were told by police not to talk to reporters. Around the neighborhood A neighbor, Betty Christian, said Tuesday the Clearys were a typical family, and she never had any indication there were problems in the home. She lives next door to the Cleary home, baby sitting her grandchildren at the home of her daughter and son-in-law. Christian said she “never heard a loud noise over there, never heard him raise his voice to the children,” adding she has been baby sitting for six years. The Clearys moved in about three years ago, she said. Neighborhood children, including Christian’s grandchildren, often played with the Cleary children. But Christian said she didn’t know the couple. The grandmother said she had to explain to her grandchildren Tuesday that their friend, young Jake Cleary, probably won’t be back. “My heart aches for the kids,” Christian said. “And my kids don’t understand. It’ll probably take them a couple of years to understand what happened.” Christian said she grew up in Peoria and expected violence there. “Never thought I would see this in Mackinaw,” she said. The Tazewell County sheriff is asking anyone who saw something suspicious along Illinois 9 around Mackinaw on Friday evening or along Interstate 155 around Hopedale to call the Tazewell County sheriff’s police. The number is (309) 346-4141. Sharon Wolfe, Roger Miller, Kevin Barlow, Ryan Denham, Greg Cima and WEEK-TV contributed to this story. |
|
||||||||||||
|
![]() ![]() |
|
Top of Page | Home | News | Sports | Free Time | Life | Money | Nation/World | Opinion | Blogs/Columns | Archives | Site Map | RSS
Copyright © 2008, Pantagraph Publishing Co. and Lee Enterprises. All rights reserved. | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy
|