Cops: Daughter-in-law lured Crest Hill woman to her death

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Updated: November 30, 2011 12:33AM

BLOOMINGTON — A woman who allegedly strangled her 70-year-old mother-in-law during an argument has been charged with three counts of murder and one count of concealing a homicide.

Wenlan Tyda’s husband reported her missing to Crest Hill police Sept. 5 after she failed to return from a work assignment between Bloomington and Chicago.

After being questioned Tuesday, Misook N. Wang, 45, reportedly told police she had buried Tyda’s body in the Des Plaines Fish and Wildlife Area in Wilmington Township.

McLean County First Assistant State’s Attorney Jane Foster said Wang and Tyda’s son, Don Wang, had been having recent marital problems.

Those problems came to a head when Misook Wang went to Don’s workplace asking for him to be fired.

“(Don Wang’s) employer told him not to return to work until his personal problems were settled. Wenlan Tyda called the employer asking that her son be allowed to return to work (and) also called Wang and confronted her about the situation,” Foster said.

Wang reportedly became irate and drove from Bloomington to Crest Hill to see Tyda, who refused to speak with her. When Larry Tyda threatened to call the police on his daughter-in-law, she left.

The alleged set-up

Foster said Wang arranged for her husband to travel to California on Sept. 4 and return two days later. Tyda took her son to the airport and said she’d be returning to Bloomington early the next morning.

“Tyda worked as a Chinese translator and was going to give someone a ride from Bloomington to a Chicago, which her husband said was not unusual,” Crest Hill Police Chief Dwayne Wilkerson said.

Foster said Bloomington police later discovered the job was a set-up arranged by Wang.

“She had gone to a local restaurant and asked if anyone could speak Chinese. When a hostess indicated that she could, the defendant took her outside and paid her $20 to call the victim … to translate and transport a client to a Chinese school in Chicago,” Foster said.

Around 3:15 a.m. Sept. 5, Wenlan Tyda told her husband she’d be back around noon and left her Crest Hill home in a silver Toyota Rav 4.

“She kisses her husband goodbye and that is the last time he sees her or hears from her,” Foster said.

Tyda was allegedly lured to a grocery store parking lot where Wang was waiting. The two argued. Wang told police Tyda followed her back to her business, Kim’s Sewing & Accessories, where they fought outside.

“The defendant claimed (to police) that the 70-year-old victim attacked her first and tried to kill her,” Foster said.

During a struggle, Wang allegedly got on top of her mother-in-law and used both hands to choke Tyda for several minutes.

She then dragged Tyda inside the sewing shop where she “lay on the floor making gasping noises,” while (Wang) lay down on a couch from exertion, Foster said.

Wang reportedly hid Tyda’s body in a back corner of the shop and drove the Rav 4 to a Chicago airport. There, she abandoned it and took a bus back to Bloomington, police said.

“She then bought a plastic storage container to put the body in and covered it with a blanket,” Foster said.

Wang left the body at her shop until the next evening when she drove it to the Wilmington Township conservation area and buried Tyda in a shallow grave, authorities said.

Missing person case

Larry Tyda had reported his wife missing after she didn’t return the previous afternoon.

Cellular records showed Wenlan Tyda had used her phone in Bloomington and Crest Hill, so investigators contacted Bloomington police, who interviewed Don Wang and other family and friends.

Detectives interviewing Misook Wang on Monday “noticed she had several injuries to her arms and legs,” Foster said.

Wang initially denied seeing Tyda on Sept. 5, until she was confronted with the restaurant hostess’ claim that she had been paid to call Tyda.

Then, Wang admitted luring her to Bloomington, but said she left after an argument, Foster said.

“A search of the Dumpster outside of Kim’s Sewing revealed a garbage bag containing Tyda’s identification and credit cards that had been cut up,” Foster said. “ A search of the Dumpster outside Wang’s home revealed a garbage bag with Tyda’s clothing cut up inside.”

Wang allegedly admitted choking Tyda and led police to the body early Tuesday.