Search of Hammel Woods set to wrap up
By BRIAN STANLEY bstanley@stmedianetwork.com November 8, 2012 3:40PM
Updated: December 10, 2012 6:25AM
Illinois State Police have said there is the possibility investigators may resume a search at Hammel Woods near Shorewood for a brief time on Friday morning.
Agents from the FBI and state police have been looking through the 400-acre Will County forest preserve for the past four days. While the agencies would not publicly say what they’re looking for, sources said investigators were checking old leads to find Stacy Peterson, the wife of convicted murderer and former Bolingbrook police Sgt. Drew Peterson.
Investigators used small shovels and yellow poles to prod loose soil while walking through wooded areas with trained springer spaniels.
Springer spaniels regularly are used as “cadaver dogs,” and it is not unheard of for the animals to find remains that have been exposed to the elements for more than a decade.
Stacy Peterson has been missing since Oct. 28, 2007, shortly after telling her husband she wanted a divorce.
Peterson was convicted in September of killing his third wife, Kathleen Savio, and is considered the main suspect in Stacy’s disappearance.
The DuPage River runs through Hammel Woods, with “islands” in the middle that regularly collect debris as the water flows downstream from the north.
