Remains Found Near Homes of Missing Women

(CNN) -- An autopsy was being conducted Thursday on remains found on the bank of a river less than 30 miles from the homes of two missing Illinois women.

The "partial skeletal remains" were found on the south bank of the Des Plaines River near Channahon, Illinois, said a recording on the Will County, Illinois, coroner's media line. They were found by a marine cleanup crew, the recording said. Authorities have not said whether the remains were thought to be those of a male or female.

Illinois State Police were on the scene Thursday conducting additional searches, spokesman Sgt. Tom Burek said.

Channahon is 20 miles from Bolingbrook, Illinois, where Stacy Peterson lived with her husband, former police officer Drew Peterson.
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Stacy Peterson disappeared in October 2007. Her husband has been named a suspect in her disappearance, but he has maintained his innocence, saying she left him for another man.

Stacy Peterson, 23 when she was last seen, was Drew Peterson's fourth wife. This month, Drew Peterson, 55, was indicted on murder charges in the 2004 death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, while the two were in the midst of a nasty divorce. He has pleaded not guilty.

Savio's death was originally deemed an accident, but authorities took a second look at the case after Stacy Peterson's disappearance.

Channahon is also 15 miles from Plainfield, Illinois, where Lisa Stebic was last seen in April 2007.

On the day she went missing, she petitioned a court to have her husband, Craig, evicted from their Plainfield home. Craig Stebic told police he was working in the backyard when his 37-year-old wife left home about 6 p.m., taking her cell phone and purse.

Authorities have said they believe that Lisa Stebic was the victim of foul play and have named Craig Stebic a suspect.