May 19, 2007 9:27 am US/Central
Family Celebrates Stebic's Birthday Without Her
Mystery Of Plainfield Mom's Disappearance Remains Unsolved
CBS 2's Rafael Romo reports.
PLAINFIELD, Ill. (CBS) ―
Lisa Stebic's family is celebrating her 38th birthday without her on Saturday, while the mystery of her disappearance remains unsolved.
As CBS 2's Rafael Romo reports, Stebic has been missing since April 30. Saturday is her 38th birthday, and her family will pass out balloons and fliers at the Spring Fest celebration in downtown Plainfield.
Stebic was last seen by her husband, Craig Stebic. He said she left to go to the gym and did not come back. He said on Friday that he is touched by his wife's family's efforts to keep the story in the spotlight.
"I want to thank them, especially her cousins, for doing what they're doing," Craig Stebic said.
Stebic's family released a music video on Saturday, on the Web site
findlisastebic.com, which they set up to help find her. It features pictures of people around the world holding "Find Lisa" signs.
The Stebic family says the site has had more than 1,000 hits.
Mystery Of Stebic's Disappearance ContinuesThe Stebic disappearance has received widespread attention, but remains a mystery. Craig Stebic told reporters and authorities that when she had left with her purse containing her credit cards and cell phone, he assumed she had gone to work out at Plainfield North High School - her typical evening routine.
But workers at the high school gym say they never saw her that evening.
The gym gave her a place to spend evenings away from Craig, whom she was in the process of divorcing.
Several friends who spoke to CBS 2 news partner the Naperville Sun painted a picture of an extremely troubled marriage. They said Lisa told them Craig threatened on several occasions that he would kill her and nobody would find her. The couple was planning a divorce when Lisa Stebic disappeared.
Craig Stebic also filed for sole custody of the couple's two children last week. Neither he nor his attorney would comment on the motion.
Police say husband Craig Stebic is neither a suspect nor a person of interest. But police and the FBI did search their house and take some items earlier in the week, which Craig Stebic called an attempt to intimidate him and coerce a confession.
The Joliet Herald-News reported that Lisa Stebic had started a fitness regimen, lost weight, and looked forward to being a single mother. She had also gotten a tattoo of a butterfly with her children's names on her lower back to celebrate her new life, the newspaper reported.
Lisa had planned to go out for drinks for her birthday with her boss and co-workers, the paper reported. She worked in foodservice at Lincoln Elementary School.
Lisa's family described her as a child who had loved nature, who later attended Libertyville High School where she competed on the swim team and danced to jazz. She got a degree from Kendall College and worked in restaurant management, the Joliet Herald-News reported.
Her cousin, Mark Greenberg, told the newspaper that Lisa met Craig Stebic at a party, and they eloped to get married in Jamaica in 1993. He told the paper that since Lisa was Jewish and Craig was not, it was easier to elope.
They later had two children, Alexis and Zachary.
As to her disappearance, one co-worker, Betty Stubner, said Lisa Stebic lived by one rule.
"She would never leave her children alone," Stubner told the Joliet Herald-News. "If her husband wasn't going to be there ... she wasn't going to go out."
(CBS 2, the Naperville Sun and the Aurora Beacon-News are news partners covering stories in the western suburbs of Chicago.)
