Chicago Area Local News

BOLINGBROOK, Ill. (CBS) ― State police are searching for the wife of a southwest suburban Bolingbrook police sergeant. The young mother went missing from her Bolingbrook home sometime after Sunday morning.

When family members last talked to the 23-year-old Peterson Sunday, they agreed to meet that day to paint a house. She never showed up and her sister filed a missing person report because she never went a day without talking to Peterson, who is a mother of two small children.

"Because he's one of our officers, we thought it would be better to have an independent agency investigating," Bolingbrook Mayor Roger Claar said of the state's involvement in the disappearance of Stacy Peterson.

Cassandra Cales, Peterson's sister, believes there is no possibility she walked away.

"If she did, she'd call," Cales said. "She knows my number. She has it memorized."

Peterson was studying to be a registered nurse assistant. Her husband, 53-year-old Drew Peterson, is a patrol sergeant with the Bolingbrook police.

Cales said Drew Peterson told her he did not know where Stacy Peterson was.

"She left, left him and wasn't coming back, taking a vacation," Cales said. "But I don't believe she would leave the kids."

The couple has two toddlers, 4-year-old Anthony and 2-year-old Lacy. Two older boys by a previous marriage live with the family.

The mother of those boys, 40-year old Kathleen Savio, died mysteriously in 2004 in her house in the same neighborhood. Savio was found dead in the dry bathtub of her Pheasant Chase home in March 2004. Drew Peterson and Savio were divorced and he was returning their two sons to their home after a weekend visit, but no one answered the locked door.

Peterson went to a neighbor's to call a locksmith. Once entry was gained, the neighbor went inside and found Savio's body in a waterless bathtub.

The investigation revealed Savio drowned. Her fingertips showed pruning from being submerged in water and her hair was wet when she was found. While there was no water in the bathtub, it may have drained out over time, as the plug was down, investigators speculated.

A coroner's jury ruled the death accidental. State Police investigated that case as well. No charges were filed. Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow has asked to re-examine the Savio case. She was Peterson's third wife. Stacy Peterson is his fourth wife.

A person who answered the Petersons' door declined to talk to CBS 2 Tuesday afternoon, but Sgt. Peterson has talked to police.

"He's cooperating fully with the investigation," said Lt. Ken Teppel of the Bolingbrook police. "The Illinois state investigation, I know the chief has spoken to him several times."

Stacy Peterson's family is offering a $20,000 reward for information about Stacy. Sgt. Peterson is taking personal time off from his job.

Stacy Peterson is described as a 5-foot-2-inches, 100 pound, white female with brown hair and eyes. She was last seen wearing a red jogging suit. She has a tattoo of a blue and yellow carnation on the small of her back and a scar across her stomach, according to a news release.

More than 20 years ago, Drew Peterson was fired from the Bolingbrook Police Department after the village board of police and fire commissioners found him guilty of disobedience, conducting a self-assigned investigation, failure to report a bribe immediately and official misconduct. He had been indicted two months earlier on charges of official misconduct and failure to report a bribe. Peterson was working under the auspices of the Metropolitan Area Narcotics Squad at the time. Indictments alleged he solicited drugs in exchange for information about his agency.

The charges later were dropped. Special prosecutor Raymond Bolden said at the time the charges were not provable.

Drew Peterson won reinstatement with the department in March 1986. Judge Edwin Grabiec ruled police and fire commissioners lacked sufficient evidence to find Peterson guilty of the charges.

Anyone with information should call ISP Joliet District at (815) 726-6377.

CBS 2's Joanie Lum and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.

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