No ID yet on suicide victim found in Park Ridge woods
By JENNIFER JOHNSON jjohnson@pioneerlocal.com February 3, 2012 9:48AM
A heavily decomposed body of a man was discovered shortly before 3 p.m. Feb. 2 by a man walking his dog through the wooded area in Park Ridge. | Tamara Bell~Sun Times Media
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Updated: March 10, 2012 8:13AM
Investigators were working this week to determine the identity of an apparent suicide victim found in a wooded area in Park Ridge.
The body of a heavyset white man was found slumped over a log Feb. 2 in a wooded area along Riverside Drive/Algonquin Road, just north of Oakton Street, Park Ridge police said.
The heavily-decomposed body was found roughly 50 to 100 feet away from the roadway and could not immediately be identified, said Park Ridge Police Lt. Duane Mellema.
An autopsy conducted Feb. 4 determined the man died of a gunshot wound to the head and the death was ruled a suicide, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The body was discovered by a man walking his dog in the woods just before 3 p.m. Feb. 2.
“As soon as I determined he was dead, that he wasn’t breathing, I called police,” the man told the Park Ridge Herald-Advocate, declining to comment further about the discovery.
On Feb. 6, Park Ridge detectives were still working with the Medical Examiner’s Office to identify the victim, said Park Ridge Police Cmdr. Lou Jogmen.
Investigators were looking at dental records and “compiling anything at all that would separate this person from another,” Jogmen said.
Police have also been in contact with neighboring police departments and sharing information about active missing-persons cases.
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