Jan 1, 2008 9:41 pm US/Central
Body Found On S.Side Could Give Family Closure
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
The discovery of a body may now bring closure for the family of a man who's been missing since 2004, as CBS 2's Mai Martinez reports.
Chicago police have not yet identified a body found Saturday under the basement floor of a Southwest side apartment building, but Tuesday, the medical examiner's office said the person was shot multiple times and the case has been ruled a homicide.
A police source believes it may be Eric Kaminski, a missing Oak Lawn man.
Kaminski disappeared in February 2004. The 25-year-old was last seen working on a construction project at the Chicago Hilton and Towers. Two weeks later, his abandoned truck was found on the West Side wiped clean of fingerprints.
Just over a year after he disappeared, Kaminski's mother told CBS 2 his family feared the worse.
"Yes I do feel Eric is not on this Earth anymore, and I try to deal with that everyday and it's hard but if that the case I need to put him to rest," said Patti Kaminski.
After almost four years, she may finally be able to do that, if that body found Saturday turns out to be her son's.
And there's good reason to believe that body may be that of Eric Kaminski, that's because published reports say officers were led to 2248 W. Coulter in the Pilsen neighborhood because of a tip, and when they arrived, they executed a search warrant for Kaminski's remains. Cadaver dogs helped locate a body under concrete. Neighbors say officers on the scene were even talking about a possible connection to the case.
"We were concerned, asking what was going on, and they just said they were looking for somebody, possibly from 3-years ago that was missing out of some suburb or something," said one neighbor.
Kaminski's family now has to wait to see if that is true. The medical examiner's office is still conducting tests on the body to try to positively identify it.
In connection with the building search, Chicago police are investigating a man who may have been involved in Kaminski's disappearance. Telephone records show the man and Kaminski may have talked before he disappeared.
The Chicago Sun-Times is not naming the man because he is not charged in Kaminski's disappearance. One theory is that Kaminski was killed over a drug debt, sources said. At the time of his disappearance, his wife said he had a problem with drug abuse.
"We are certain he met foul play," said Kaminski's father, Daniel Kaminski. Eric Kaminski's younger brother, Kevin, died unexpectedly in 2000 and Eric would not "have just left without saying something to us," Daniel Kaminski said.
"We searched numerous locations for him," he said. "We put in a solid two years looking. From the start, everything involving his disappearance seemed suspicious."
"It's so hard waiting every day for him to come home," said Grace Kaminski, who said she is no longer officially married to Eric Kaminski. "All I want is closure."
The STNG Wire contributed to this report.
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