May 16, 2007 12:28 pm US/Central
Stebic's Husband Accuses Authorities Of Coercion
Police, FBI Raided Missing Woman's House On Tuesday
PLAINFIELD, Ill. (STNG) ―
While police say they have no suspects in the disappearance of a local mother of two, her husband's attorney believes a midnight search of her house was an attempt to intimidate her husband and coerce a confession.
For the first time Tuesday, investigators said they are expanding their search for Lisa Stebic to include the possibility of foul play -- and served early-morning search warrants at the Stebic house as the next step in the investigation.
Lisa Stebic, 37, was reported missing May 1. Police say there has been no activity on her cell phone or credit cards since April 30, when she was last seen at home about 6 p.m.
"We need to focus part of our investigation on the fact that she may not have voluntarily disappeared," said Police Chief Don Bennett.
Although investigators are considering that possibility, Bennett said they have no hard evidence of foul play.
Plainfield police, an FBI evidence response team and a special operations unit from the Joliet Police Department searched the house at 13244 Red Star Drive, and the Stebics' vehicles early Tuesday morning.
Craig Stebic's attorney Dion Davi said Stebic was not allowed to call him during the search, which police said lasted about four and a half hours. Bennett said Stebic was offered the chance to call his attorney and declined.
Stebic was cooperative and let officers in to conduct the search, police said. During the search, Stebic stayed in a room with officers while his two children were in a car outside with female officers, police said.
"They say he's not a suspect. They say he's not a person of interest. But they come in the middle of the night, take the kids out of their sleep and force them to sleep in a car while they search for hours," said Davi, who said he learned of the search when Stebic called him about 6 a.m. Tuesday.
"They're trying to coerce a confession from my client when he's already stated his innocence," he said.
Bennett said the process of obtaining the warrants from the Will County State's Attorney's office started much earlier in the day Monday and took longer than expected, but that investigators had personnel available to conduct the searches and felt it was important to move forward that night.
Deputy Police Chief Mark Eiting said investigators still have no suspects and no persons of interest in connection with Lisa Stebic's disappearance. He would not say what items were taken from the house, nor would he discuss the content of the search warrant.
Police did say they impounded Lisa's 2004 Saturn Ion and Craig's 2002 Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck, both of which are registered to Craig Stebic.
Will County State's Attorney spokesman Chuck Pelkie said because of the high-profile, ongoing investigation, the warrant is under court seal and not available for public scrutiny.
Investigators are not currently planning further ground searches nor have they sought additional search warrants, Eiting said.
Melanie Greenberg, a spokeswoman for Lisa's family, said she had not talked to police and declined to comment on the latest development in the case.
Lisa Stebic's family has offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to her whereabouts. Anyone with information on Lisa Stebic's location is asked to call the Plainfield Police Department at (815) 267-7217 or Will County Crime Stoppers at (800) 323-6734.
(Source: Sun-Times News Group Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2006. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
