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Body found in pond in South Barrington
South Barrington resident Vance Nwankwo, 25, was reported missing Nov. 1. He was last seen Oct. 30 at a night club in Schaumburg. | Photo courtesy Heidi Witas
Updated: December 16, 2012 6:14AM
SOUTH BARRINGTON — South Barrington police reported Friday afternoon that the body of a missing South Barrington man was found in a pond in the Spring Creek sub-division, near the location where he was last seen.
Vance Chidera Nwankwo’s mom filed a missing person report with South Barrington police Nov. 1, two days after Nwankwo was last seen, said Deputy Police Chief Raymond Cordell.
On Friday, the police department issued a follow-up news release explaining that the Barrington Fire Department found human remains using sonar equipment, and that the body was removed by divers.
Nwankwo was last seen dressed in an Incredible Hulk costume for Halloween.
“We’ve been searching and looking, and we’ve even had a canine unit out, but they weren’t able to find anything,” said Cordell of the initial search efforts.
Nwankwo’s friends told the Barrington Courier-Review that his cell phone, wallet and keys were left in his home and one of his shoes was found outside. Barrington sisters Heidi and Shari Witas were among a group of friends helping in the search.
“We were so eager to help because he was the kind of person who would have been so eager to help someone else,” said Heidi Witas, who graduated from Barrington High School a couple of years before Nwankwo. “He was a kind person with a good heart. The general sentiment about him is how much he would do for other people.”
South Barrington police said Nwankwo’s body has been transported to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office, and the investigation remains open pending the results of an autopsy.
