Volunteers to search for missing Romeoville mother
By Tony Graf tgraf@stmedianetwork.com November 3, 2012 10:46PM
Updated: December 5, 2012 6:53AM
ROMEOVILLE — Volunteers are being sought for a Sunday morning search for a missing mother of three.
Linda L. Fellenbaum, 32, last was seen about 8 p.m. Oct. 21 leaving a residence in the 3600 block of Crockett Court in Joliet.
Fellenbaum, mother to two boys and a girl, last lived in Joliet, previously lived in Chicago for eight years, and grew up in Rockford.
Fellenbaum’s mother, Deborah Barr of Chicago, is seeking volunteers to search for Fellenbaum on Sunday morning. Volunteers are asked to meet at 10 a.m. at Mistwood Golf Course, 1700 W. Renwick Road in Romeoville.
Volunteers participating in Sunday’s search should bring fully charged cell phones, dress warm, and wear good walking shoes, Barr said. Volunteers also are encouraged to bring a stick, in order to be able to poke into bushes or branches without touching anything, she said.
“We are meeting at the golf course, but we are dispersing through quadrants that we have established,” Barr said.
“Everybody will be getting an assignment,” she said, adding that volunteers will be registered and given a specific area to search.
“Nobody can go out by themselves. They have to go in groups, two or more,” Barr said. “If they find anything, they have to be prepared to call the reception number that they will be given.”
Family memories
Fellenbaum grew up in Rockford and attended Auburn High School, playing varsity basketball there. She went on to attend Marquette University in Milwaukee for two years, majoring in chemistry with a goal of pre-medical studies, Barr said.
Barr moved to Chicago in 2001, and Fellenbaum moved there in 2003 and stayed until 2011, Barr said.
“She had a great heart,” Barr said of her daughter. “She would give even when she didn’t have. She would do for people without expecting anything in return. And when you tried to give it back to her, she wouldn’t take it.”
“She was strong in the church. She was a Sunday school teacher,” Barr said of her daughter’s participation in a Chicago congregation.
“She loved her children,” Barr said. “She never missed an opportunity to have fun with them. And they know that she loves them so much.”
Anyone with information on Fellenbaum’s whereabouts is asked to call Joliet police at 815-724-3100 or anonymously call CrimeStoppers at 800-323-6734.
