West Suburban Bureau

Friends: Missing Woman's Marriage Was Troubled

One Friend Says Lisa Stebic's Husband Threatened Her Several Times

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PLAINFIELD, Ill. (CBS) ― Friends and neighbors are painting a troubled picture of the broken marriage of Lisa Stebic, who has been missing from her Plainfield home for nine days now.

As CBS 2's Kristyn Hartman reports, friends of Lisa Stebic say her husband threatened her.

Craig Stebic took their two children to a candlelight vigil for their missing mother on Wednesday night.

Lisa Stebic has been missing for nine days, and she left her car behind in the garage with no trace of cell phone or credit card activity since, police said.

She has not been located despite a $20,000 reward, national interest in her case and more than 34,000 hits on the website findlisastebic.com.

Lisa Stebic's cousin said they are trying to keep hope alive as he spoke with CBS 2 about Craig Stebic.

"I think the commitment is there, from what I've seen of Craig – and I spent a good amount of time with him today – he's very troubled by this. He's very broken up," said Mark Greenberg.

But several friends who spoke to CBS 2 news partner the Naperville Sun painted a picture of an extremely troubled marriage.

They say Lisa told them Craig threatened on several occasions that he would kill her and nobody would find her.

"I've heard her say, 'If anything ever happened to me, look towards Craig,'" said Amer Zegar, who, along with his wife, hosted Lisa and her two children at his home several times since January. "I don't want to blame someone who's innocent. (But) we're scared, we really are."

Family members have said the allegations surprised them and that Craig would never hurt his wife.

But Zegar said that, during her visits, Lisa spoke of receiving verbal abuse from her husband and expressed fear of him and his threats.

"(Craig) always said, 'You'll never get nothing, you'll disappear,'" he said.
Zegar and his wife, who declined to be named, said Lisa had been receiving counseling from the Guardian Angel Home in Joliet - a nonprofit organization that provides services for victims of domestic violence and rape.

While not confirming that Lisa is a client of the home, Chief Executive Officer Shelia Schmitz said the organization has been cooperating with the Plainfield Police in their investigation.

"I know her family has come here, and police have come here," Schmitz said.

Craig disagreed with reports that his wife was afraid of him and that she had received counseling at the shelter, speaking Tuesday with the Naperville Sun's partner the Joliet Herald News.

"Why would she still be living here?" he said. "If she was so afraid, why would she leave her kids here?"

Serious Conflicts In Marriage
The couple's 14-year marriage was coming to a rocky end after Craig filed for divorce in January, citing irreconcilable differences. Craig's father, Joe Stebic, who lives in Highland Park, said their strained relationship was obvious during his Christmas visit with Craig, Lisa and their two children: Lexi, 12, and Zac, 10.

"Lisa wouldn't even talk," Joe said. "She'd just come in, look at me and walk away. I thought there was something going on there."

At least by the middle of last year, the couple was experiencing serious conflicts. Friends say Lisa would sleep on the living room sofa, where she kept a purse with her personal belongings constantly by her side.

But Joe puts no fault on his son, whom he describes as "very sociable."

"He's just a happy guy; he gets along with everyone," he said. "That's all there is to it."

He thinks Craig's denials of verbally abusing and threatening Lisa are true.

"Of course, I believe him; he's my son. Wouldn't you believe your own son?" Joe said.

Loyal Father
The weekend before Lisa disappeared, Joe spent three days with Craig and the children at a cabin he has long rented, six miles away from the small town of Alpha, Mich. They laid tile and installed a new bathroom toilet in the Upper Peninsula home, and returned Sunday afternoon.

In Iron County Michigan, Craig's cousin confirmed that sheriff's department investigators on Friday searched the cabin. Plainfield police said they didn't find anything.

An avid hunter in his spare time, Craig is employed as a pipe fitter for Dial Corporation in Montgomery. He grew up in Highland Park, attended Lake County College and then spent a year at Hobart Institute of Welding Technology in Troy, Ohio.

Family First
He and other relatives say there's no way the loyal father could ever bring harm to his wife.
Michelle Stebic, married to Curt Stebic, Craig's first cousin, lives in Crystal Falls, Mich. - only miles away from Joe's cabin. While Lisa and Craig might not have been "lovey dovey," she said the couple seemed to be doing OK.

"I don't see any of the Stebics as being violent," she said. "They all yell, they get loud, and they let you know what they think, but that's it."

The last time Michelle saw Lisa was a few years ago. Michelle said the two women had a good time talking and catching up. Michelle said Lisa would never walk away from her children.

"That's what's got us worried," Michelle said. "Those kids were her life. She was a good mother, and Craig did admire Lisa for that. Many times he said 'I'm glad she's here' to take care of it."

Now, Craig Stebic has filed for sole custody of the two children, even while his estranged wife remains missing.
CBS 2 Legal Analyst Irv Miller said Craig Stebic had made some errors in judgment.

"His first big mistake was to refuse a polygraph," Miller said. "His second is trying to take kids away from mother even though she's not around."

On Wednesday, neither Craig Stebic nor his attorney wanted to discuss his sole custody motion directly.

"The focus does not need to be on him," said Dion Davi, Craig's attorney. "We need to use every [bit] of man power we have in finding Lisa."

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