West Suburban Bureau

Missing Woman's Estranged Husband Talks About Case

$20,000 Reward Offered For Missing Plainfield Mother

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CHICAGO (CBS) ― Lisa Stebic disappeared more than a week ago. She was in the middle of a bitter divorce. Tuesday evening, her estranged husband spoke about the case, and his fears that investigators are targeting him.

As CBS 2 West Suburban Bureau Chief Mike Puccinelli reports, Craig Stebic said his attorney advised him not to take the polygraph test that had been set up for Tuesday by Plainfield police.

"I don't know why… they don't want me to take it," Stebic said.

But, he said he is willing to take one.

"Everything's got to go through the attorney right now," he said. "They could go through the attorney. And we're more than willing to keep working with them. It's not that we're not working with them. The attorney just wants us to go through them now."

Stebic says he fears police may think of him as a suspect in the disappearance of his wife of 14 years.

"They probably do think I am," he said. "But they haven't said I am."

And to those who think he had something to do with Lisa's disappearance more than one week ago, Craig Stebic had this to say: "I hope they don't think that 'cause, I'm not."

He said he had "nothing at all" to do with it.

And while Craig Stebic did open the door for CBS 2, it was a different story when FBI investigators stopped by his home hoping to talk with him. No one answered.

Lisa Stebic's family is leaving no stone unturned in their quest to locate her, and they are pleading for the public's help.

As CBS 2's Kristyn Hartman reports, on Tuesday morning, the family of Lisa Stebic answered questions and publicized a $20,000 reward for information in the case.

On Tuesday, the family thanked the public for all its help in prayers, and urged people to take a continued interest in the case. Already, the Web site findlisastebic.com has received about 15,000 hits, and relatives hope that site and their pleas reach someone who knows something.

"We miss Lisa. Everybody misses our Lisa," said Stebic's sister, Debbie Ruttenberg.

Stebic's family is holding onto the hope she will return home. When the mother of two disappeared, she did not take her car, and credit cards and a cell phone she apparently had with her have gone unused in the time she has been missing.

Her cousin, Mark Greenberg, said what Stebic did not mention was what CBS 2 news partner the Naperville Sun reported from neighbors. The neighbors said Stebic feared her husband, Craig, and that she went for counseling at an agency that helps battered women.

Several friends of Lisa Stebic told the Naperville Sun she was attending counseling at the Guardian Angel Home of Joliet.

"I don't know how many times I heard her say she feared her husband," said Amer Zegar, who, along with his wife, hosted Lisa and her two children at his home several times since January.

"We've known Craig since the time that they were married," Mark Greenberg said. "A lot of what is coming out is news to the members of the family. We're very troubled by it."

Mark Greenberg and the others said they would like Craig Stebic to answer any questions police have. As of Monday, Craig Stebic was declining to take a polygraph test. They also want the public to know there is a $20,000 reward for any information leading to Lisa Stebic's whereanbouts.

"She's a caring, concerned, fun-loving dedicated mother; a good, good person," Ruttenberg said, "and we need her back."

"It's incomprehensible that she would leave her children. She just would not," added Melanie Greenberg. "That's what is the big mystery."

As of Monday, Plainfield police said Craig Stebic was not a suspect or even a person of interest in the case, and that he had been cooperative.

"It's hard, after a week of no news, not to fear the worst," said another relative, Melanie Greenberg.

Still, the family is trying to stay optimistic, because Stebic has a lot to live for. Relatives say even though she was going through a divorce, she was getting her life together and often talked about the positive stride she was making.

(CBS 2, the Naperville Sun and the Aurora Beacon-News are news partners covering stories in the western suburbs of Chicago.)