Chicago Area Local News

BOLINGBROOK, Ill. (CBS) ― The mysterious case of missing Bolingbrook mother Stacy Peterson is deepening as investigators look into stories that her husband, Drew Peterson, and a relative helped load a blue container onto Drew's truck to dispose of it on the day she vanished.

CBS 2's West Suburban Bureau Chief Mike Puccinelli reports that the sister of the man who said he helped Drew Peterson move the container is speaking out in an exclusive interview.

That sister said that on Friday, her brother was somewhere safe getting the help he needs to cope with what he fears he may have done.

While boats navigated the waters of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship canal looking for any sign of Stacy Peterson on Friday, her father sent a tow truck to Stacy's house to recover his Harley Davidson, a large tool box, a desk and a family Bible he had given to his now missing daughter.

Tow truck driver Dan Mejdrech said, "It's just a black bound bible." The tow truck operators never saw drew Drew Peterson at all, but a CBS 2 news crew did a short while later when he left the home he shared with Stacy until she disappeared a month ago.

The former Bolingbrook police sergeant wasn't talking Friday, but Stacy Peterson's family spokeswoman was.

Pamela Bosco expressed concern for the Peterson relative who was reportedly seen helping Drew load a large sealed container into a truck on the day Stacy was last seen alive.

"We hope he recovers soon and that he is able to work completely with Illinois state police and divulge what he completely knows about that night," Bosco said.

That man's sister talked exclusively with CBS 2 Friday for the first time since she says her brother helped Drew load the large container into Drew's now confiscated Yukon Denali. She says her brother would never have knowingly helped Drew dispose of Stacy, but afterward he feared the worst.

"He was just sick with the possibility of what he might have done," his sister said. So sick that after returning home he attempted to take his life late the next night by overdosing on pills.

He'd been clean and sober for ten years until shortly after he helped Drew do whatever it was they did. His sister says that relative's past may have played a role in why Drew chose him to help with the container.

"He knows our family background and knows that my brother has had these problems in the past and I believe he believes that no one will believe him," she said.

The relative's sister is speaking out because she believes Drew's lawyer, Joel Brodsky, is trying to destroy her brother's reputation by characterizing him as a drug-addled, unstable liar.

Brodsky has insisted reports about the large blue container taken from the Peterson home are false. He repeated those statements in an interview on the CBS Early Show Friday morning.

Brodsky said on the Early Show that the relative is a "very troubled man. He's been hospitalized in psychiatric hospitals half a dozen times," that he has active warrants out for him, and that his own wife has not been heard from in 10 years. 

The relative's sister said Brodsky is trying to drag her brother through the mud.

"I feel Mr. Brodsky is making claims that are unsubstantiated. He has no proof in fact that my brother has attempted suicide any other time other than what was involved with his client," she said.

She also said her brother thought the world of Stacy and would never do anything to harm her. Further, she claimed her brother was an unwilling pawn who was used by Peterson and is now being abused by Drew's attorney, who she believes is engaged in an organized campaign of character assassination.

Meantime, the largest search to date for Stacy Peterson is scheduled to take place Saturday. Stacy's family and friends will be joined by volunteers who have spent months searching for missing Plainfield mom, Lisa Stebic.

Lisa Stebic's family members have long said there are a lot of similarities between Lisa's disappearance and Stacy's, and because of that, the two families are teaming up to try to find clues as to what happened to Stacy, and perhaps Lisa.


Volunteers are planning to meet Saturday at 9 a.m. at Westbrook Christian Church in Bolingbrook for the search, which we're told will cover land and water areas.

Organizers are concerned that the cold weather might lessen the number of volunteers, but they're still hopeful they'll have a good turn-out. A vigil for stacy is also planned Saturday at 4 p.m., following the search.

CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli, Mai Martinez, Rafael Romo, CBS News and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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