James C. Verduin 56, Msg 12/25/08, Dekalb IL [FOUND DECEASED]

[sarahhod]

Wisconsin man goes missing from DeKalb on Christmas

http://www.northernstar.info/article/5859/

By ALAN EDRINN


http://i43.tinypic.com/a4l7dd.jpg
DeKalb Police are searching for a missing Wisconsin man last seen in DeKalb the night of Dec. 25.

James C. Verduin, 56, of Wauwatosa, Wis., was last seen by a clerk at the Best Western Inn & Suites, 1212 W. Lincoln Highway, where he was taken after being involved in a one-vehicle accident earlier that day, according to a DeKalb Police Department news release. Verduin’s car was towed from the accident on Interstate 88 near DeKalb.

On Dec. 27, a Best Western employee contacted Verduin’s family asking them to pick up belongings he had left behind. Verduin never checked out of the room and left behind property including clothes and his cell phone, said DeKalb Police Lt. Gary Spangler.

“Nothing in his room indicates where he went, what he did or how he got there,” Spangler said.
Police conducted a large ground search on Dec. 31, according to the release. No foul play is suspected.

DeKalb Police are looking for financial activity that could show where Verduin is, but have found no activity of any type from him, Spangler said. Police checked numerous hospitals for Verduin’s location, he said, and are staying in close contact with Verduin’s family, friends and coworkers.

Investigators believe Verduin could have health issues that caused him to wander from the hotel, according to the release.

Another ground search was planned for the weekend of Jan. 9, but was postponed because of weather, Spangler said. Property owners are encouraged to check any abandoned buildings.

Verduin is a white male, 6 feet 1 inch tall, about 200 pounds, with gray hair, blue eyes and glasses. He was last seen wearing blue pants and either a green coat or a long tan trench coat.

Who is he?
Name: James C. Verduin
Age: 56
Hometown: Wauwatosa, Wis.
Description: White male 6 feet 1 inch tall, 200 pounds, gray hair, blue eyes and glasses
Clothing: Blue pants and either a green coat or a long tan trench coat
Last seen: Dec. 25

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the DeKalb Police Department at (815)748-8400.

[sarahhod]

Brad Olsen: Missing but not forgotten
At two-year anniversary, family holds hope of finding what happened to son

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/b...SEN_S1.article

January 14, 2009
By ERIKA WURST ewurst@scn1.com



"I would have never thought that when this all started we would be talking about a two-year anniversary," Maple Park resident Sue Olsen said Tuesday, her voice quivering.

Olsen's son, Brad, 26, went missing from a DeKalb bar on Jan. 20, 2007.

"Every day we think of some other way to get out there and try to find Brad," she said.

"It just saddens me that we have another gentleman missing in the area."

On Dec. 25, 2008, the family of James Verduin came to understand Olsen's sadness.

On Christmas Day, Verduin, a 56-year-old Wisconsin resident, was involved in a single-vehicle accident on Interstate 88 while driving through Illinois to visit friends. After refusing medical treatment, Verduin was taken to the Best Western Inn & Suites, 1212 W. Lincoln Highway in DeKalb, by a tow truck driver. He checked in -- and then disappeared.

Two days later, Verduin's family was notified to pick up the man's belongings at the hotel. Clothes and a cell phone had been left behind. Verduin had never checked out. DeKalb police said no financial activity of any type has been made by Verduin since his disappearance.

And while they don't suspect foul play, intense searches are again under way in DeKalb.

Olsen said with the area being close to her son's disappearance, she hopes searchers will be on the lookout for Brad as well.

"It's hard to envision all of these people that are still out there, despite the continued efforts we all put into it," Olsen said, pointing to missing women Lisa Stebic and Stacy Peterson and St. Charles resident John Spira as recent examples.

Stebic went missing from her Plainfield home in April 2007; Petersen, of Bolingbrook, has not been seen since October 2007; and Spira was last seen at his workplace in West Chicago in February 2007.

"Our vicinities are so close together, within 45 minutes of each other. It's not a stretch of the imagination that we could find any one of these people in any location," Sue Olsen said.

And though Olsen's faith remains solid, the terror of not knowing what has happened to her son weighs on her.

"There is never really closure. But when something is solved you at least know for certain what happened. For us, we don't know," Olsen said. "Were they brutally tortured? Were they just beat up and left for dead in the freezing weather? Were they shot and taken somewhere? Were their bodies taken to some other state? You don't know, and it drives you crazy thinking about all of the possibilities."

So instead of dwelling, Olsen is determined to move forward, teaming up with other families of the missing to create a search army. In sharing resources and manpower, Olsen said the odds of finding previously missed clues continue to increase.

"It's an uplifting feeling to have them out there intensely looking," she said.

On Saturday, the search will resume as Olsen hits the snowy DeKalb streets once more to keep her son's case alive. Weathered posters will be taken down and fresh ones put in their place. Friends and family of the missing man will turn out, showing the memory of Brad Olsen has far from faded.

"It hasn't gotten one bit easier," Sue Olsen said of the missed birthdays, Christmases and family dinners. "It's probably gotten harder... but we're so blessed to have so many people willing to help."

[sarahhod]

Missing but not forgotten
Search continues for men who disappeared from the DeKalb area

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/c...SEN_S1.article


January 17, 2009
By ERIKA WURST ewurst@scn1.com

"I would have never thought that, when this all started, we would be talking about a two-year anniversary," Maple Park resident Sue Olsen said this week, her voice quivering.

Olsen's son, Brad, 26, went missing from a DeKalb bar on Jan. 20, 2007.

The missing men

Bradley Olsen


• Age: 28 (missing at 26 years old)


• Height: 5-foot-8


• Weight: 175 pounds


• Description: Blue eyes, brown hair. Olsen has a tattoo of a palm tree on his left ankle and a tattoo of a sun on his back.


• Last seen: Bar One, 1000 West Lincoln Highway, DeKalb, around 2:25 a.m. on Jan. 20, 2007. He was wearing a brown three-quarter-length leather jacket; a black, short-sleeved, collarless shirt; jeans and black, lace-up boots. Olsen called someone for a ride back to his parents' Maple Park home and has not been heard from since.

James Verduin


• Age: 56


• Height: 6-foot-1


• Weight: About 200 pounds


• Description: Blue eyes, gray hair and wears glasses


• Last seen: Police said Verduin was last seen wearing a long, tan trench coat and blue pants as he checked in at the Best Western Inn & Suites, 1212 W. Lincoln Highway, DeKalb, after being involved in a single-vehicle accident on Dec. 25, 2008.

Police are asking anyone who has seen or had contact with Verduin or Olsen to contact them at 815-748-8400.

"Every day, we think of some other way to get out there and try to find Brad," she said.

"It just saddens me that we have another gentleman missing in the area."

On Dec. 25, 2008, the family of James Verduin came to understand Olsen's sadness.

On Christmas Day, Verduin, a 56-year-old Wisconsin resident, was involved in a single-vehicle crash on Interstate 88 while driving through Illinois to visit friends. After refusing medical treatment, Verduin was taken to the Best Western Inn & Suites, 1212 W. Lincoln Highway in DeKalb, by a tow truck driver. He checked in -- and then disappeared.

Two days later, Verduin's family was notified to pick up the man's belongings at the hotel. Clothes and a cell phone had been left behind. Verduin had never checked out. DeKalb police said no financial activity of any type has been made by Verduin since his disappearance.

And while they don't suspect foul play, intense searches are again under way in DeKalb.

Olsen said with the area being close to her son's disappearance, she hopes searchers will be on the lookout for Brad as well.

"It's hard to envision all of these people that are still out there despite the continued efforts we all put into it," Olsen said, pointing to missing women Lisa Stebic and Stacy Peterson and St. Charles resident John Spira as recent examples.

Stebic went missing from her Plainfield home in April 2007; Petersen, of Bolingbrook, has not been seen since October 2007; and Spira was last seen at his workplace in West Chicago in February 2007.

"Our vicinities are so close together, within 45 minutes of each other. It's not a stretch of the imagination that we could find any one of these people in any location," Sue Olsen said.

And though Olsen's faith remains solid, the terror of not knowing what has happened to her son weighs on her.

"There is never really closure. But when something is solved, you at least know for certain what happened. For us, we don't know," Olsen said. "Were they brutally tortured? Were they just beat up and left for dead in the freezing weather? Were they shot and taken somewhere? Were their bodies taken to some other state? You don't know, and it drives you crazy thinking about all of the possibilities."

So instead of dwelling, Olsen is determined to move forward, teaming up with other families of the missing to create a search army. In sharing resources and manpower, Olsen said the odds of finding previously missed clues continue to increase.

"It's an uplifting feeling to have them out there intensely looking," she said.

Today, the search will resume as Olsen hits the snowy DeKalb streets once more to keep her son's case alive. Weathered posters will be taken down and fresh ones put in their place. Friends and family of the missing man will turn out, showing the memory of Brad Olsen has far from faded.

"It hasn't gotten one bit easier," Sue Olsen said of the missed birthdays, Christmases and family dinners. "It's probably gotten harder... but we're so blessed to have so many people willing to help."

[annalyzer]

www.daily-chronicle.com/articles/2009/01/05/news/local/doc4962f008ad5f8086166028.txt

Updated: Monday, January 5, 2009 11:58 PM

Wis. man's whereabouts still unknown

By KATE SCHOTT - kschott@daily-chronicle.com

ShareDeKalb Police have received few leads as to the whereabouts of a missing Wisconsin man last seen in the city on Christmas Day.

Foul play is not suspected in the disappearance of 56-year-old James C. Verduin of Wauwatosa, Wis., according to DeKalb Police. Verduin was last seen the evening of Dec. 25 at the Best Western DeKalb Inn & Suites on Lincoln Highway.

Police have received just one phone call since late last week, when they alerted the public to the disappearance, DeKalb Police Lt. Gary Spangler said Monday.

“It was from someone who thought they may have seen him the next day, but we’re still following up on that one,” Spangler said.

Police still don’t know why Verduin was in DeKalb on Christmas Day. He was involved in a one-vehicle accident on Interstate 88 shortly before 7 p.m. His family has told police that Verduin was supposed to spend time on the holiday with a friend who lives in Wisconsin and be at a family gathering Dec. 26.

Illinois State Police conducted an aerial search Friday and examined open fields south and southwest of the city, Spangler said, but didn’t find anything. Police searched the area near the hotel Dec. 25 and did a ground search Dec. 31, coming up empty-handed both times.

Police are checking with hospitals in the region to ensure he is not receiving treatment, but Spangler noted that Verduin didn’t have a vehicle and that it does not appear that he rented one from local companies. Verduin also has not used his credit cards since Dec. 25, Spangler said.

“If he’s still OK, how he is surviving is unknown,” Spangler said. “If he was with a friend or someone that heard he was missing, they would certainly contact us. That hasn’t happened.”

Verduin was involved in a one-vehicle accident about 6:55 p.m. Dec. 25 on I-88 at mile post 85, Master Sgt. John Carter of Illinois State Police District 15 said last week. Verduin’s vehicle hit an overhead tollway truss, Carter said.

The vehicle was towed from the scene, and Verduin declined medical attention, Carter said. The driver of the tow truck dropped Verduin off at the hotel. A Best Western employee called members of his family Dec. 27 to ask them to pick up items Verduin left behind, noting that he never checked out. The family called DeKalb Police that night, Spangler said.

Verduin might have health issues that caused him to wander from the hotel, police said, although they have declined to specify what type of health issues he may have. Efforts by the Daily Chronicle to find family members of Verduin have been unsuccessful as of Monday.

Verduin is a white male who is 6 feet 1 inch tall and weighs about 200 pounds, according to DeKalb Police. He has gray hair, blue eyes, wears glasses and was last seen wearing a long tan trench coat and blue pants.

[sarahhod]

DeKalb Police Search for Missing Person

http://www.wifr.com/news/headlines/37853399.html

Posted: 8:56 PM Jan 19, 2009
Last Updated: 10:46 PM Jan 19, 2009

Police say on December 25th, James Verduin got into a car accident on I-88 near DeKalb. He was then given a ride to the Best Western motel in DeKalb.

A motel clerk confirms that Verduin did check in, but that was the last time he was seen.

Verduin has not returned to work or his home in Wisconsin.

If you have any information, call DeKalb police at 815-748-8400, or DeKalb Area Crime Stoppers at 815-895-3272.

[annalyzer]

http://www.jsonline.com/news/38122214.html

Missing Wauwatosa man sought in Illinois

Posted: Jan. 21, 2009 11:39 p.m.

A Wauwatosa man missing since Christmas Day is the object of a police search in Illinois.

According to police in DeKalb, James C. VerDuin, 56, was last seen at a Best Western motel in the area on Dec. 25, said Sgt. Jason Leverton of the DeKalb Police Department.

According to Leverton, VerDuin was taken to the hotel after being involved in a traffic accident that disabled his vehicle.

But VerDuin did not check out and left his belongings in the hotel room.

He's described as a white, 6-foot-1 and 230 pounds.

Anyone with have information on VerDuin is asked to call DeKalb police at (815) 748-8400 or DeKalb Area Crime Stoppers at (815) 895-3272.

[annalyzer]

http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/40010787.html

Questions surround Tosa man's vanishing

Researcher crashed car on I-88, was last seen on Christmas Day

Posted: Feb. 20, 2009 10:30 p.m.

http://media.jsonline.com/images/VERDUIN_-JAMES---(Missing).jpg
James Verduin

Police in DeKalb, Ill., say there's no logical reason why a car driven by a Wauwatosa man crashed into a tollway truss on Interstate 88 on Christmas Day.

But the bigger mystery remains what became of the driver.

James C. VerDuin, a researcher at the Medical College of Wisconsin, showed no signs of injury after the crash and declined hospitalization, said Sgt. Robert Redel. The tow truck driver who came for his car gave him a lift to a nearby Best Western Inn & Suites.

The clerk told police that VerDuin appeared disoriented later in the evening.

"She said he came in and asked for another key because he left his in the room," Redel said. "She said he appeared disoriented and was snow-covered, almost as if he had been rolling in the snow."

Two days later, hotel staff called VerDuin's family to say his cell phone and some clothes were left in the room, but he had not been seen since he asked for a new key Dec. 25.

VerDuin has not used his credit cards or accessed his bank accounts since then, and Redel said police do not suspect foul play. Family members told police they didn't know why VerDuin would have been in the DeKalb area.

"He might have had health issues that caused him to wander off," Redel said. "This is a very rural area, and we just don't know at this point."

VerDuin's sister, Helen VerDuin Palit, last spoke with her brother Dec. 24. She said he was in good spirits while they laughed and joked over the phone.

"He's such a likable, happy, honest guy," she said. "We all miss him very much."

Jim, as the family knew him, planned to meet with family members Dec. 27, which would have been his 56th birthday.

Search continues

VerDuin later decided not to attend the event and told a pastor that he needed some space, according to Cynthia VerDuin, his sister-in-law. Police have searched with dogs and low-flying airplanes and distributed missing person posters throughout the area but haven't gotten a good lead, Redel said.

The family has joined in the search, too. Last weekend, Cynthia VerDuin and Jim's brother, Bill VerDuin, drove to DeKalb and hunted around four cemeteries after a psychic said that's where he might have collapsed.

They came up empty-handed.

This week VerDuin's daughter, Melinda, of Shorewood, filed a lawsuit asking that she be appointed receiver for her father's assets so she could pay his bills and care for his property.

Neither she nor her attorney returned a reporter's calls.

[Nut44x4]

???????

Body found in Kishwaukee River
DEKALB — The body of an unidentified male was found at 2:45 p.m. Sunday in the Kishwaukee River at Hopkins Park.

An autopsy is scheduled for Monday.

Officials for the DeKalb Police Department would not comment on the investigation
http://www.rrstar.com/news/x1465808409/Body-found-in-Kishwaukee-River

[Nut44x4]

Indeed, it was him, how sad.

Body found in river identified as missing Wisconsin man

A body found in the Kishwaukee River on Sunday has been identified as a Wisconsin man who was last seen in DeKalb on Christmas Day.

The body of James C. Verduin was found about 2:45 p.m. Sunday in the river near Hopkins Park in DeKalb. DeKalb County Coroner Dennis Miller identified Verduin during an autopsy performed Monday.

Preliminary autopsy results show Verduin, 56, drowned, Miller said.

“We don't suspect any foul play,” Miller said, adding there were no wounds, bruises or other marks on the body. “There was no sign of a struggle.”

Verduin, of West Allis, Wis., was expected to attend a family gathering Dec. 27, but left a message for his family that he needed some time away by himself, his brother, Bill Verduin, told the Daily Chronicle in January. The family is not sure why he was in the DeKalb area on Christmas Day, when he was involved in a one-car accident on Interstate 88.

After his car crashed into a tollway truss, it was towed from the scene, and the tow truck driver dropped Verduin off at the Best Western DeKalb Inn & Suites, police said.

Two days later, a hotel employee called Verduin’s family and asked them to pick up his belongings, noting that he had never checked out. The family called police, who searched the area around the hotel that night, police said. Additional air and ground searches have been performed since then.

Miller said Verduin probably died Christmas Day or Dec. 26, and has been in the river since then. Police do not know where Verduin entered the water.

DeKalb Police were called about 2:45 p.m. Sunday by a couple of residents walking in Hopkins Park who noticed the body in the water, DeKalb Police Lt. Gary Spangler said. The body was found behind the 200 block of Joanne Lane, Spangler said.

Verduin, who was found only wearing boxer shorts, appears to have been in the river and exposed to the elements for several weeks, according to DeKalb Police reports. Verduin "more than likely discarded the clothing before or while in the water," Spangler said. The clothing has not been found.

No foul play is suspected, Spangler said.

"We believe he wandered in the river," he said. "We are aware of some emotional issues that could have contributed to the death."

The incident is under investigation by the DeKalb County Coroner's office and the DeKalb Police Department.

http://www.daily-chronicle.com/articles/2009/03/23/88846238/index.xml

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