JOLIET, Ill., Dec. 31 (UPI) -- An official in Will County, Ill., says the new year should bring about new evidence in the cases of former police officer Drew Peterson's last two wives.
Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow said the potential new information could possibly aid police in their investigation of Stacy Peterson's 2007 disappearance and the death of Kathleen Savio in 2004, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Wednesday.
"I'm very positive. I'm very encouraged by the work the police have done,'' Glasgow said Tuesday. "We are not at a dead end by any stretch of the imagination.''
Glasgow confirmed the grand jury investigating both cases during the last 14 months will meet in January.
The attorney's comments come months after Glasgow predicted in October that a resolution to one of the cases was likely to come about in the near future, the Sun-Times said.
The newspaper said Drew Peterson, a former police officer in Bolingbrook, Ill., has been a person of interest in the cases of Savio and Stacy Peterson, his third and fourth wives respectively.
The new year should bring new information that will help investigators determine what happened to at least one of Drew Peterson's wives, Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow said Tuesday.
Though Glasgow made a similar, still-unfulfilled prediction two months ago, he remains upbeat that authorities will solve the 2007 disappearance of Stacy Peterson and the 2004 drowning death of Kathleen Savio.
"I'm very positive. I'm very encouraged by the work the police have done,'' said Glasgow, speaking about the cases for the first time in several months. "We are not at a dead end by any stretch of the imagination.''
A grand jury that for 14 months has been probing Stacy Peterson's disappearance and Savio's death will resume hearing evidence next month, Glasgow confirmed.
"It'll be meeting next year,'' Glasgow said of the grand jury, which also has heard evidence in the April 2007 still-unsolved disappearance of Plainfield mom Lisa Stebic.
In October -- near the one-year anniversary of Stacy Peterson's disappearance -- Glasgow said he expected a resolution to at least one of the cases in the "near future.'' He wouldn't clarify that timetable Tuesday.
Drew Peterson -- who has been named a suspect in Stacy's disappearance -- isn't worried about the lengthy investigation because he's done nothing wrong, his attorney said.
Glasgow made his remarks during a taping of the WBBM 780 news program 'At Issue.' to be broadcast Sunday at 9:30 a.m.
Love is in the air this holiday season, although it might not be where you expect it.
Drew Peterson's lawyer recently confirmed that Peterson is engaged to a local 24-year-old woman. For those of you who haven't kept abreast of the Peterson media blitz, the 54-year-old former Bolingbrook police sergeant is being investigated in the 2004 homicide of his third wife, Kathleen, and he is still married to his missing wife, Stacy.
You might think that the suspicious death of one wife and another missing one would cause most women to run for the hills, but Peterson actually is quite the draw around town. Women swarm around him at local bars, so-called Drew groupies abound, and now he is engaged to a young, pretty woman.
What is the attraction?
There are a couple of reasons why women flock to purported bad boys like Peterson. Often, these women have an early history of conflict or trauma with the primary male figure in their life. In some women, this might be a history of an abusive relationship with their father, or perhaps an emotionally charged relationship with their stepfather.
If there is conflict with the primary male figure in a young woman's childhood, no matter whom that might be, this could present later in life an attraction to bad boys or an attraction to unhealthy relationships. This pattern also could be set in place when girls witness an abusive or an unhealthy relationship between their father and mother, or between their mother and the men she dates. Witnessing abusive or controlling relationships such as these can cause women to associate love with abuse or sexuality with control and dominance.
Another reason that women are attracted to bad boys is because of the power they wield. Women think that if they are attached to a powerful, dominant man, they will become powerful as well. Of course, the opposite is true, and these women often find themselves trapped in abusive relationships in which all of their power and autonomy is removed.
In cases such as Drew Peterson, the display of power becomes even more intoxicating, because his fame makes him appear larger than life. Whether innocent or guilty, Peterson has become a local celebrity. Regardless of whether this recognition is fame or infamy, women are attracted to the glow of fame. He might not be Brad Pitt, but he still gets his name in the paper on a regular basis, and that alone is attraction enough in our celebrity-obsessed culture.
The lure of bad boys is nothing new. From serial killers to convicted wife killers such as Scott Peterson, the most heinous criminals in our society are never short on fascinated groupies. Women who seek out bad boys will inevitably find them ... and, unfortunately, they often find a sad end as well.
To prevent these unsafe relationship patterns, parents have to help children develop confidence and secure relationships. Young women need to learn healthy relationship patterns and develop a strong sense of self-worth if they are to establish adult relationships with the right boy, instead of the bad one.
Love is in the air this holiday season, although it might not be where you expect it.
Drew Peterson's lawyer recently confirmed that Peterson is engaged to a local 24-year-old woman. For those of you who haven't kept abreast of the Peterson media blitz, the 54-year-old former Bolingbrook police sergeant is being investigated in the 2004 homicide of his third wife, Kathleen, and he is still married to his missing wife, Stacy.
You might think that the suspicious death of one wife and another missing one would cause most women to run for the hills, but Peterson actually is quite the draw around town. Women swarm around him at local bars, so-called Drew groupies abound, and now he is engaged to a young, pretty woman.
What is the attraction?
There are a couple of reasons why women flock to purported bad boys like Peterson. Often, these women have an early history of conflict or trauma with the primary male figure in their life. In some women, this might be a history of an abusive relationship with their father, or perhaps an emotionally charged relationship with their stepfather.
If there is conflict with the primary male figure in a young woman's childhood, no matter whom that might be, this could present later in life an attraction to bad boys or an attraction to unhealthy relationships. This pattern also could be set in place when girls witness an abusive or an unhealthy relationship between their father and mother, or between their mother and the men she dates. Witnessing abusive or controlling relationships such as these can cause women to associate love with abuse or sexuality with control and dominance.
Another reason that women are attracted to bad boys is because of the power they wield. Women think that if they are attached to a powerful, dominant man, they will become powerful as well. Of course, the opposite is true, and these women often find themselves trapped in abusive relationships in which all of their power and autonomy is removed.
In cases such as Drew Peterson, the display of power becomes even more intoxicating, because his fame makes him appear larger than life. Whether innocent or guilty, Peterson has become a local celebrity. Regardless of whether this recognition is fame or infamy, women are attracted to the glow of fame. He might not be Brad Pitt, but he still gets his name in the paper on a regular basis, and that alone is attraction enough in our celebrity-obsessed culture.
The lure of bad boys is nothing new. From serial killers to convicted wife killers such as Scott Peterson, the most heinous criminals in our society are never short on fascinated groupies. Women who seek out bad boys will inevitably find them ... and, unfortunately, they often find a sad end as well.
To prevent these unsafe relationship patterns, parents have to help children develop confidence and secure relationships. Young women need to learn healthy relationship patterns and develop a strong sense of self-worth if they are to establish adult relationships with the right boy, instead of the bad one.
GAG!! Whether he's engaged or not, Drew Peterson seems to be out and about, celebrating the holiday season.
Peterson spent Saturday night at the suburban hot spot, Stardust, with several unidentified ladies.
The club's owner, Reggie Benjamin, took several photos of Peterson getting cozy with the young women, and said Peterson was treated like a celeb.
A video also surfaced over the weekend showing Peterson with a woman he told the photographer was his fiance. But the Chicago Tribune reported the woman said "No, It's not. I'm sorry."
The woman in the photos and video does not appear to be Christina Raines, the 23-year-old Romeoville waitress Peterson has said is his fiance.
Raines' family -- and her live-in boyfriend -- have repeatedly denied that she is engaged to Peterson.
"She never said, 'Yes, I will marry you,'" Raines' boyfriend, Mike, who declined to give his full name, told the Chicago Tribune. 'He's [mad] at her and he's trying to get back at her by dragging her name through the mud."
He told the Tribune that Christina hasn't seen or spoken to Peterson in more than a week.
A publicist for Peterson first confirmed that Peterson was engaged last Wednesday. So far, no one has come forward to say publically she is his fiance.
The announcement marks at least the sixth time Peterson has gotten engaged, and according to a divorce attorney, there's no legal issue with him getting engaged.
If his current wife, Stacy Peterson, who has been missing since October 2007, doesn't respond within 30 days of him filling for dissolution, their marriage is legally over.
The former Bolingbrook police officer remains a suspect in the death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio. He has also been implicated in Peterson's disappearance, which is still under investigation.
The Southtown newspaper has compiled a roster of Peterson's romances, listing other women who may have fallen under Drew's spell.
The skull and bones found last week in a wooded lot outside Orlando, Fla., were identified as Caylee Anthony's on Friday, and Orange County officials declared the little girl was the victim of a homicide.
How the 2-year-old girl was killed remains a mystery. Orange County medical examiner Dr. Jan Garavaglia reported that the skeletal remains were Caylee's, but the only clue to her death was that her bones didn't suffer trauma.
"They are not intact. They are all disarticulated. They are completely skeletonized," Dr. Garavaglia said. She said some of the bones were "tiny."
Caylee was two months shy of her third birthday when she vanished in June.
Garavaglia said Caylee's remains, which were found not far from the home where she lived with her mother and maternal grandparents, were identified through nuclear DNA analysis.
The news caps a five-month search for the girl, who was last seen in mid-June but wasn't reported missing by her mother until a month later. The mother, 22-year-old Casey Anthony, is behind bars without bond and charged with her daughter's murder.
The child's next of kin, including her mother; grandparents George and Cindy Anthony; and other relatives were notified of the findings before they were made public, according to Garavaglia.
"The bottom line is, no child should have to go through this," said Orange County Sheriff Kevin Beary, his voice breaking. He called it a police chief's "nightmare case."
The case has garnered intense national attention and media scrutiny. Federal authorities have assisted in the investigation.
As to the question of whether someone might have taken Caylee out of the Orlando area where she lived, the FBI said there wasn't any indication that was the case.
"At no time did we find any evidence that this young child left this location," said Tampa FBI Special Agent Steven Ibison.
Casey Anthony's lead attorney Jose Baez said he is "disappointed" with the way the investigation has been handled.
"It’s not a professional way of doing things. I’m extremely disappointed in the way that all this has been carried out," Baez told reporters.
He declined to comment on how his client reacted to the news that her daughter was found dead.
"This is her private moment. This is her life," he said. "It’s not my place as her attorney to disclose her private moments to the public. I’m sure that’s what she would want."
Cindy and George Anthony were "grieving deeply" in private, their attorney Brad Conway said, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
"This is a tragic moment in the lives of good and honorable people," Conway said.
Ahead of the announcement, Florida police released evidence photos from the scene where the remains were found. One showed a book discovered in the woods that the child had been photographed reading before she vanished.
The pictures were among several cops publicized before the afternoon news briefing.
The book is among numerous pieces of evidence Orange County Sheriff's deputies say they found in the wooded area where Caylee's remains turned up.
Also Friday, police re-interviewed a county water meter reader who earlier this month discovered a bag with the child's skull and bones inside.
Detectives said the worker is not a suspect in her death.
The worker who found the bones on Dec. 11 had called in a tip to police on three consecutive days in August, telling them to look in the same area for the remains.
"Back in August of this year, I had previously reported … that I had spotted something suspicious, a bag, in the same area," said the meter reader, Roy Kronk, reading from a prepared statement Friday.
He wouldn't elaborate.
"I will continue to cooperate fully with the investigation," Kronk told reporters. "I respectively decline to get into the details of what I saw at the crime scene."
His attorney, David Evans, called Kronk a "concerned citizen" and lambasted media speculation that suggested otherwise.
"He has no connection whatsoever to this case or to the Anthony family," Evans said.
Orange County Sheriff's officials say they believe he was in the area on Dec. 11 following up on his own lead when he discovered the bones and skull.
Capt. Angelo Nieves said police questioned the worker again, as well as the sheriff's deputy who took the original call. They want to know more about what prompted him to contact authorities and how they handled the tips.
The meter reader first called on Aug. 11 to report a bag by the side of the road, MyFOXOrlando.com reported. A deputy wasn't able to locate Kronk.
On Aug. 12, the meter reader called a crime hotline. The information was passed on to the Orange County Sheriff's criminal investigation division.
And on Aug. 13, the utility worker called cops a third time, MyFOXOrlando.com reported. He met with police, and a deputy went into the wooded area to investigate the Kronk's claims, but didn't find anything, the station said. The scene was then cleared as a possible place of interest in the case.
There is now an internal probe under way within the police department into how the matter was handled.
"There are a lot of questions about the thoroughness of that response," Nieves told MyFOXOrlando.com.
Investigators were at the wooded crime scene all week in an exhaustive dig for evidence. They said late Thursday they found additional bones that also appear to be from a child.
Caylee vanished on or around June 16, less than two months before her third birthday. Her family reported her missing in mid-July. Her mother has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, aggravated manslaughter and other charges.
A spokesman for Baez accused police of lying to the press and suggested they could be tampering with evidence at the site.
"Some of their comments are blatant lies," Todd Black told FOXNews.com. "History has shown that in some cases authorities have been caught tampering with evidence. That is something we hope is not happening. We're not accusing anyone of anything."
Anthony and her defense team have maintained that she last saw Caylee when she left her with a baby sitter named Zenaida Gonzalez in an apartment complex parking lot. Anthony's lawyers say Gonzalez and another woman drove away with the child.
Police claim that story and the sitter are fictitious and Anthony has lied to them repeatedly.
Black suggested last weekend that the defense would argue Caylee was killed by her purported kidnapper if the remains were identified as hers.
MARIANNA, Florida (CNN) -- Four men, now in their 60s, met over the Internet, shared stories about the darkest days of their pasts and spurred an investigation into 32 graves at a reform school.
Roger Kiser, Michael McCarthy, Bryant Middleton and Dick Colon talked about whippings and beatings and other boys who disappeared.
They discussed the 32 crosses marking the graves of persons unknown on the grounds of the former Florida Industrial School for Boys.
They called their group the White House Boys, taking the name from the single story concrete building where, they say, boys were beaten and tortured decades ago.
The White House Boys believe that delinquents and orphans sent to the concrete White House were killed and their remains buried to cover up the brutality.
This week, the four called on Florida Gov. Charlie Crist to investigate. Crist agreed and asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to search for remains, identify them and determine whether any crimes were committed.
The department agreed to look into the mystery of the 32 crosses on the grounds of what is now known as the Dozier School, in Marianna, just south of the Alabama state line.
Two of the White House Boys, Middleton and Colon, spoke with CNN. The stories they told were chilling.
Middleton said he was "an incorrigible youth of 14 or 15" when he was sent to the reform school for breaking and entering. During a 30-minute phone interview, he recounted story after horrific story about his time there.
Middleton said he took six trips to the concrete White House, where he endured brutal beatings. He says boys were regularly struck with a metal-reinforced double strap with a long wooden handle.
"You could hear it coming through the air, and when it hit your body, the pain was unbelievable," he recalled. "They just beat you to the point of unconsciousness, or you could no longer understand what was happening to you."
He recalled another occasion in which he and another boy decided to get drunk. They mixed orange juice with rubbing alcohol. It make Middleton sick and his friend intoxicated.
A guard confronted the other boy and began to treat him roughly, Middleton said.
"He dragged him to the administration building, and I never saw him again. He never came back to work or to the cottage," Middleton said. "He literally disappeared off the face of the Earth."
Colon is an electrical contractor in Baltimore, Maryland. But in the 1950s, he acknowledged, he was a wayward youth who gritted his teeth through 11 beatings inside the White House.
Colon said he remembers entering the laundry one day, and his life has never been the same.
Inside a large tumble dryer was a black teen.
The White House boys, who are all white, said black kids at the school were beaten even more savagely than white kids.
"I said to myself, 'What's going to happen to me if I take him out?' " Colon said.
He recalled being about 15 feet away from the boy in the dryer. He thought about helping him but was afraid.
"I said to myself, 'I can't do it, 'cause I'm gonna be the next one in the God------ dryer if I take him out,' " he said.
"I turned my back and walked out, and it torments me every day of my life."
So far, all authorities have are allegations and the collective memories of the White House Boys. But they say it's worth looking into the case.
"Questions remain unanswered as to the identity of the deceased and the origin of these graves," Crist wrote in his letter to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
"The main goal is to determine the location of the graves, who owned the property at the time, and determine if any crimes were committed," agency spokeswoman Kristin Perezluha said.
Authorities are only now beginning their investigation, so no one can say for certain who, if anyone, is buried under the 32 white metal crosses.
Middleton learned about the investigation from a CNN producer.
"My God! That's remarkable. My God! That's all I ever wanted," he said. "That will begin a lot of the healing for those that survived that school.
"Some of us will never get over the brutality, the sexual assaults and the fear. But this is a major step in the right direction," he added.
Colon has established an educational trust fund at the same campus, the Dozier School for high academic achievers, today operated by the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice.
At least one former student says the school was strict but fair.
"They were justified in giving me these paddlings, because, hey, I was wrong," Phil Hail of Anniston, Alabama, told The Miami Herald.
Hail told the Herald he remembers going to the white building once for getting low grades in 1957. "Was [the school] run with a very strict hand? Yes, it was ... Were the paddlings very severe? Yes, they were," he told the newspaper.
There are lingering questions no one seems able to answer: Why was there no outcry from the parents of boys who disappeared? Why did no one look for them?
Colon and Middleton say they're valid questions. They firmly believe that bodies will be found and that they will be the bodies of both black and white boys.
"I believe, in my own heart, that there has been a coverup," Middleton said.
Added Colon, "White, African-American, they're all there ... I believe they will find crushed skulls, and broken bones -- and hopefully, one day, the murderers."
CINCINNATI -- A young girl who lost her battle against cancer is continuing to inspire people well after her death thanks to the letters she left behind.
Six-year-old Elena Desserich’s life was turned upside down when she was diagnosed with brain cancer.
Her family said that at the beginning, they were told to expect that Elena would only have about 135 days to live.
During her final days, the girl began writing letters to her family and hid them all over their home.
“She would tuck them into bookcases, tuck them into dishes, china you don't touch every year and you'd lift it up and there'd be a note in it,” Keith Desserich, Elena’s father, said.
Her father also wrote during their last few months. He kept an online journal of their battle that soon came to have a following.
"Before we knew it, we had 12,000 people a day who were reading this,” Desserich said.
Now he’s turned the collection of memories into a book titled “Notes Left Behind, 135 Days with Elena.”
The Desserich’s said that Elena left behind hundreds of notes all over the house.
The family is hoping to pass on their daughter’s strength and courage.
“They [readers] should take the time to listen and not get caught up in the days rush,” Desserich said. “To this day, I'll never forget that lesson. Wish I would've learned it earlier.”
The book will go on sale this weekend. The Desserich’s will be signing books at the Kenwood Barnes and Noble store starting at 2 p.m.
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JOLIET, Ill., Dec. 31 (UPI) -- An official in Will County, Ill., says the new year should bring about new evidence in the cases of former police officer Drew Peterson's last two wives.
