Joseph Faykuse, Body found, msg. 12/28/07 Frankfort, IL

[packy]

Searchers from the Effingham County Dive-Rescue Team and the Effingham County K-9 Search and Rescue Team stopped looking for Joseph J. Faykuse Jr., 54, of Frankfort, at about 4 p.m. His vehicle was found abandoned near the lake

Faykuse has not been heard from since his family reported him missing at about 3 a.m. Christmas Day.


http://www.effinghamdailynews.com/local/local_story_365005608.html

[Roamer]

Sounds like there are a lot of factors playing against the search, doesn't it, with the lake temps, vegetation, etc. Hope they find him safe.

[KittyMom]

http://www.southtownstar.com/news/725861,010408missingman.article

On Sunday, Faykuse's mother, Mary - who suffered from fibromyalgia, osteoporosis and Alzheimer's disease - died. Her wake is scheduled for today.



How sad.

[packy]

Yes, sad.

No updates that I've found. He may not have been the one to drive the car to that area.

[PinkPony]

Wow! Effingham is very close to where I live and this is the first that I've heard this.

Thanks packy.:happy0207:

[Grande]

http://i28.tinypic.com/2zyv1pc.jpg

http://www.effinghamdailynews.com/local/images_sizedimage_365005039/resources_photoview

[Pauli]

I have been looking, there is nothing more reported on this man... I am so disappointed and frustrated that the media lets these people disappear from public view :(

[Grande]

I have been looking, there is nothing more reported on this man... I am so disappointed and frustrated that the media lets these people disappear from public view :(

It is sad, I check everyday for updates on Mr. Faykuse and nothing...

[packy]

I checked again too and there is nothing. He was from Frankfort so I looked for anything in the newspapers there and in Mokena and New Lenox and also the Daily Southtown and Chicago Trib. I looked for an obit but came up with nothing.

Effingham may have something if it does result in his body being found in the lake.

[packy]

Sad news, I have heard that a body was recovered in Lake Pauline and they believe it to be Joseph Faykuse. They were doing an autopsy Sunday and will be able to confirm it soon. As soon as I find an update and the confirmation I will post it.

RIP Joseph Faykuse

[Grande]

Sad news, I have heard that a body was recovered in Lake Pauline and they believe it to be Joseph Faykuse. They were doing an autopsy Sunday and will be able to confirm it soon. As soon as I find an update and the confirmation I will post it.

RIP Joseph Faykuse


RIP Joseph Faykuse :1222423:

Our thoughts are with his friends and family.

[packy]

http://www.effinghamdailynews.com/local/local_story_063130043.html

Yesterday, Effingham Police Department received a call from someone who thought they saw a body in the lake. After arriving on the scene, Effingham police called the Effingham County Dive Rescue Team at 9:30 a.m., which recovered the body.

Effingham County Coroner Leigh Hammer pronounced the man dead at 1 p.m. after the body was pulled from the lake.

(no confirmation yet)

[Grande]

Thanks for the updates Packy.

[Grande]

Missing Frankfort man's body found
March 5, 2008
By Duaa Eldeib, Staff Writer

The body of a Frankfort man missing since December was found floating in a lake Sunday morning in downstate Effingham.

Members of the Effingham County Dive-Rescue Team pulled Joseph J. Faykuse Jr. from Lake Pauline after a man spotted the body and called police, authorities said. Faykuse was last seen by his sister Diane Malecki on Christmas.

"It's quite a blow," said Malecki, of Tinley Park. "I had hopes he was not in there."

Malecki reported her 54-year-old brother missing to the Will County sheriff's office Dec. 27. A day later, Faykuse's car was found abandoned at the lake in Effingham. Dive and dog teams combed the area after a K-9 unit picked up his scent. Officials suspended the search after three days and planned to resume it when weather permitted.

Effingham County Coroner Leigh Hammer pronounced Faykuse dead at 1 p.m. Sunday. The autopsy did not reveal any traumatic injuries, Hammer said. The cause of death is pending toxicology results, which could take six weeks.

The case remains open as the Effingham City Police Department and the coroner's office continue their investigation.

"The Effingham police - everyone from the dispatchers to the chief of police - were very caring and constantly updated me on everything," Malecki said. "You could not ask for any more than those people did."

No one from the police department was immediately available for comment.

"Some things point one way, and some things point another way," Malecki said. "I still am not going to believe it's a suicide. There's a lot of unanswered questions."

Faykuse had a history of depression, Malecki said, but that doesn't explain why he was nearly 200 miles away from home.

"We know he was there. We don't know if he fell in or if slipped in," Malecki said. "He was a good swimmer, but he was entangled in the vegetation."

Faykuse's wake will be Friday from 6 to 9 p.m. at Thornridge Funeral Home, 14318 LaGrange Road in Orland Park. The funeral will be Saturday. For more information, contact the funeral home at (708) 460-2300.

http://www.southtownstar.com/news/825742,030508found.article

[packy]

Thanks, Grande, for the update. I went to that same paper this morning and did not find that. Effingham had no update and they were saying investigation was ongoing. And checked obits too. Hmmm. Do we assume it is not foul play even though reports aren't in yet?

[annalyzer]

http://www.tinleyjunction.com/Articles-c-2008-03-12-175608.112113_News_Briefs.html

News Briefs

March 12, 2008

TP woman's brother's body found in Effingham lake

The body of Joseph J. Faykuse, 54, of Frankfort, was found March 2 floating in Lake Pauline in Effingham, Ill., almost 200 miles from the his home in Frankfort.

Faykuse was reported missing on Dec. 28, 2007 by his sister Diane M. Malecki of Tinley Park.

Faykuse's car was found parked at the Lake in Effingham on Dec. 28.

Detective-Sergeant Todd Ebbert of the Effingham Police Department said the car was in good condition and appeared to have been driven to the lake and abandoned.

The owner of a camp ground on Lake Pauline found the body and notified the Effingham Police.

Ebbert said there were not signs of trauma to the body and no other evidence to suggest foul play.

Effingham County Coroner Leigh Hammer said that autopsy did not suggest foul play and a final reason of death was pending, waiting toxicology reports and further medical information.

Hammer said the physical findings and the autopsy results suggest that Faykuse died around the time that he was reported missing.

Malecki said she last saw Faykuse at the Crestwood Nursing Home on December 25, where they were visiting her mother. She said he showed no signs of despondence and appeared happy.

Malecki said she has a message from Faykuse saved on her phone that she plays every day. "He called me at 8:30 p.m. in an upbeat mood letting me know that he was home and that he would call me in the morning about meeting for breakfast at 10 a.m. at Cracker Barrel," she said.

Malecki said she did not hear from her brother on December 26, but was not immediately concerned; she just assumed he had changed his mind about breakfast.

On December 28, Malecki said that her ex-husband was in the area and drove by the house with a key. He discovered that Faykuse's car was gone, the lights in the house were on and the doors were unlocked.

Malecki said Faykuse had no family and no friends that she knew of in the Effingham area and she has no idea why he was there.

"He did suffer from depression, but so do a lot of people in the country," said Malecki. "It doesn't mean you drive 200 miles away and jump in a lake."

Faykuse had been taking care of his mother the last seven years and the two had lived in Frankfort for three years. Faykuse's mother died Dec. 31, 2007.

[annalyzer]

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1N1-1209D4397566CAA8.html

Sister haunted by her brother's death

Article from:SouthtownStar (Chicago, IL) Article date:April 24, 2008

She is a woman tormented by unanswered questions about a brother who disappeared and then by even worse news. He had been found. Diane Malecki, of Tinley Park, last saw her brother alive on Christmas Day 2007. They spent that evening at the bedside of their 83-year-old mother who was in a nursing home. Malecki's brother, Joseph J. Faykuse Jr., 54, hadn't been feeling well. Nevertheless, before leaving the nursing home, he made an appointment to meet her for breakfast the following morning, Dec. 26. "I told him to call me when he got home because I was worried about him," Malecki said. "He left me a message on my answering machine, I still have it, and said he would see me the next morning. ...

[nanabillie]

That body was in the water for over a year? I didn't know a body would stay in-tack for that long.

[packy]

That body was in the water for over a year? I didn't know a body would stay in-tack for that long.

He was reported missing Dec. 28 and the article dated March 5 said he was found the previous Sunday. So just a few months.

I know the Effingham County coroner gives status reports of cause of death to the newspapers but I could not find any for Joseph.

It does seem odd that he planned to meet his sister for breakfast but instead drove all the way to a place where his sister said he knew no one just to jump into the lake when there are lots of lakes and rivers near his hometown and all along the way. And he left his house door unlocked.

[Amusedtdth]

IMO when you find a body in the water it just makes it that much harder to find a COD. I believe personally that alot of deaths written off as "accidental drownings" are not in fact accidental. You just can't prove otherwise and that leaves a whole in the heart of the families.
moo

[sarahhod]

Rest in Peace Joseph.

:1222423::1222423::1222423:

[nanabillie]

He was reported missing Dec. 28 and the article dated March 5 said he was found the previous Sunday. So just a few months.

I know the Effingham County coroner gives status reports of cause of death to the newspapers but I could not find any for Joseph.

It does seem odd that he planned to meet his sister for breakfast but instead drove all the way to a place where his sister said he knew no one just to jump into the lake when there are lots of lakes and rivers near his hometown and all along the way. And he left his house door unlocked.

Sorry, thanks Packy. With his being found in March of '08 and our post
March '09, I made a mistake. That would make a big difference in being able to tell COD.