Nov 11, 2007 10:09 pm US/Central
Peterson's Family Hopes FBI Will Get Involved
Search Organization Seeking Donations; Family Says They Will Never Give Up
BOLINGBROOK, Ill. (CBS) ―
The focus of the search for Stacy Peterson is now shifting from land to water; her family says no matter how long it takes, they will never give up.
After spending Sunday distributing flyers with Stacy's picture on them – the missing 23-year-old's stepsister and brother-in-law acknowledged that after two weeks, it is not likely Peterson is still alive.
"If she was out there and saw all this I'm pretty sure she'd come forward and say 'Hey, I'm okay,'" said Debby Forgue, Peterson's stepsister. "I know she would not want to see her family go through this."
Drew Peterson has made only brief appearances outside his home this weekend, where he is caring for the couple's two small children.
"Whatever might have happened to her, we will find justice and we will find Stacy as a family," said Matt Simmons, Stacy Peterson's brother-in-law.
Another development that has encouraged Stacy's family is the pending exhumation of Kathleen Savio. Savio's body could be exhumed as early as Monday, sources say. Prosecutors say there's evidence that death may not have been an accident and Stacy Peterson's family believes that case strengthens their position that Stacy was the victim of foul play.
"It will make our suspicions more valid, depending on what they find," Forgue said.
Peterson's husband, suspended Bolingbrook Police Sgt. Drew Peterson, is now suspected in the murder of Stacy, his fourth wife. The Will County States Attorney's office has ordered the body of his third wife Kathleen Savio, exhumed.
Her 2004 death in the couple's bathtub was originally ruled "accidental."
Savio's family believes she was murdered. They said she told them she feared Drew Peterson would kill her. Stacy Peterson's family says she too lived in fear and wanted a divorce. They are hoping the investigation into Savio's death may help keep pressure on Drew Peterson, who claims his wife left him for another man – a claim they call ridiculous.
They also say Drew Peterson's family, who was at the home Sunday, has not assisted in the search for Stacy.
Stacy Peterson's family is hoping now that Illinois State Police have called the case a possible homicide, more and more people and law enforcement agencies will also get involved.
"We'd like to see the FBI involved at some point, if that's called for, if that's a possibility from that aspect," said Pamela Bosco, Stacy Peterson's stepmother.
Most of the searchers Sunday handed out flyers along with State Police officers, who also reviewed high resolution aerial photos taken from a plane.
"We're still concentrating on water areas, we have people out today," said Tim Miller, founder and head of professional search team Texas Equusearch.
Miller is not leaving until at least midweek, but says plans are in place for this week's searches to go on in his absence.
"This search is going to continue, we want it to continue," Miller said. "We're still optimistic between what's going to be done and what law enforcement is doing -- that we're going to get some closure in this."
Saturday's search for Peterson led to a false alarm. After finding what appeared to be a shallow grave, search crews came up with the remains of an animal, instead of any leads to Peterson.
Miller would not say where the discovery was made, but said it was not in the Green Valley Forest Preserve near Naperville where teams had been searching earlier Saturday. He said they had been looking about six miles from the search command post -- the Westbrook Christian Church, at 1175 Lily Cache Rd. in Bolingbrook.
Now with focus turning to Drew Peterson's third wife, a man familiar with that case spoke up Saturday evening.
The man who found Kathleen Savio dead in a bathtub three years ago talked about the moment when Drew Peterson entered his ex-wife's home and looked at her dead body lying naked in a drained bathtub.
"I looked right into his eyes, right when that happened," said Steve Carcerano. "He was very emotional right away."
Carcerano says he still maintains Peterson's innocence.
But Savio's niece and nephew say that's ridiculous. They say Sgt. Peterson killed his third wife. And they say Friday's decision by the Will County State's Attorney to order her body exhumed was something Kathleen would have wanted -- so that in their view, justice delayed is no longer justice denied.
"At least to us we know that we were right and that she was right because she's the one who said he's going to kill me," said Charlie Doman, Savio's nephew.
Melissa Doman says she just wishes law enforcement officials had taken Kathleen's numerous claims of abuse seriously years ago.
"There's a lot of people who didn't take it seriously and because they didn't, my aunt's gone and poor Stacy's missing now for almost two weeks," said Melissa Doman.
Saturday, Martin Forgue and one of Stacy's half sisters went to Stacy's house to recover an urn containing the ashes of Stacy's late sister Tina who died recently from cancer. Forgue said Drew Peterson looked and seemed tired. He also said the 53-year old cop tried to explain why Stacy is missing.
"He just said that she left, circumstances were all weird, all this stuff is blowing up around him and people are twisting some stuff, making him look like a monster," said Martin Forgue, a relative of Stacy's.
Peterson remained in seclusion Saturday in his home. He said, "no comment," when asked if the children were going to be staying with someone else.
Drew Peterson, 53, has been stripped of his powers. He was a member of the Bolingbrook police force for 29 years – six years longer than his missing wife Stacy has even been alive.
Stacy Peterson has been missing for nearly two weeks, and Drew Peterson has insisted that she left him voluntarily and called to say she was doing so.
But police have officially named him a suspect in the case and have said the case is now a possible homicide investigation. The search for Stacy Peterson resumes Monday at 10 a.m. at the Westbrook Christian Church in Bolingbrook.
CBS 2's Katie McCall, Rafael Romo, and Mike Puccinelli contributed to this report.
cbs2chicago.com's Most Popular Pages
Slideshow: '90s TV Stars Then & Now
Slideshow: Useless Body Parts
Slideshow: In To Be Out: Gay Celebrities
Slideshow: Did You Know? Stars From Chicago!
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
