Dec 2, 2007 8:59 am US/Central
Police: Truckers Asked To Deliver Peterson Package
Truck Drivers Say Approached By Peterson And Unknown Man To Transport A Package, Peterson Attorney Denies Incident
BOLINGBROOK, Ill. (CBS) ―
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Stacy Peterson has been missing since Oct. 28.
CBS
Friends and family of the long-missing Lisa Stebic joined in the search for Stacy Peterson Saturday, as one of husband Drew Peterson's relatives talks about a mystery in the case involving a blue barrel.
But the search was called off after four hours due to the snowstorm that blew in on Saturday afternoon.
More than 200 volunteers came to search for Stacy on Saturday despite high winds and freezing temperatures, according to Lisa Stebic's family representatives. The search was held in Romeoville near the Sanitary and Ship Canal. The turnout in suburban Romeoville was the biggest so far.
A prayer vigil marking the one-month anniversary of Stacy Peterson's disappearance was still held Saturday afternoon in Bolingbrook, according to Stebic family representatives. The vigil was also for Stebic and Peterson's previous wife Kathleen Savio.
Peterson, 23 and a mother of two, has been missing since Oct. 28. Her husband Drew, 53, has been named a suspect in her disappearance, and Illinois State Police have said they believe she died in a homicide.
At 3:30 a.m. on Nov. 29, hours after Stacy Peterson was last seen alive, police say then sergeant Drew Peterson and another man stopped by a Bolingbrook truck stop and asked two truckers to help transport a package to an undisclosed location. Officials stated one of the two men is described as a white male, early 50's, salt-and-pepper hair, with a stocky build.
A press release goes on to say that upon reaching the location, Drew and the other man would regain possession of the package and continue transporting it to a location not accessible by a semi- trailer.
No one inside the truck stop was talking today. But CBS station WBBM-TV has confirmed that one of Drew's relatives used to work there.
That's the same relative whose sources say a neighbor spotted him helping Drew load a container into his truck on the day Stacy disappeared.
That relative's sister spoke exclusively to WBBM-TV Saturday saying her brother would never have knowingly helped Drew dispose of her body.
Drew Peterson wasn't talking today, but did take time out to put up "no trespassing" signs and cones in front of his house.
Earlier this week, one of Drew's relatives said her brother helped Drew dispose of a large blue barrel around the time Stacy disappeared.
In an exclusive interview with WBBM-TV Friday, the woman talked 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 responded to the truckers report Saturday evening, saying in a press release: "Drew Peterson categorically denies that any such encounter took place." Brodsky goes on to say, "What concerns us is that what is nothing more than an extreme case of thoroughness by the Illinois State Police and the Will County States Attorney's office is being interpreted as a significant development by the media. This is not the case."
Brodsky has insisted reports about the large blue container taken from the Peterson home are false. He has said the barrel never existed. Brodsky has also asked a judge to order investigators to return property seized from the family's home last month.
The items include two cars, 11 guns, iPods, school supplies, computers and nearly two-dozen CDs.
Will County Judge Dan Rozek is to consider the matter Dec. 12.
Brodsky says Drew Peterson is entitled to his weapons, which were taken from a locked safe Nov. 1.
"He certainly must feel the hate -- or dislike -- out there for him," Brodsky told The (Joliet) Herald-News. "I can understand why he feels safer if he has his weapons with him in the house, at least."
Stebic was last seen on April 30 by her estranged husband Craig Stebic, and in the drama that has unfolded since then, Craig Stebic has been named a person of interest but never named a suspect or accused of a crime.
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