West Suburban Bureau

Judge Sides With Stebic In-Laws In Visitation Case

JOLIET, Ill. (STNG) ― Craig Stebic has to respond to his in-laws' requests for information made through their grandchild visitation case, a judge decided Friday.

And Stebic, who has been named a "person of interest" in his wife's disappearance, is free to invoke his fifth amendment right against self-incrimination, said Will County Judge Robert Brumund.

Stebic's lawyer Dion Davi resisted a request for discovery filed by Lisa Stebic's parents and grandparents, who he says are seeking visitation rights to their grandchildren as well as answers about their missing loved one.

Some of the discovery requests have nothing to do with the childrens' well-being, according to Davi. Davi wanted to temporarily stop the family's requests for information until Stebic is no longer under suspicion by police, but Brumund said that time frame is unknown.
Timothy Daw, a lawyer for Lisa's family, has said the couples just want to see the children and that Stebic has prohibited any contact.

"I think they're trying to conduct their own private investigation in Lisa's disappearance," Davi said. He said he suspects the family may be working with police, who have not spoken to Craig since the start of the missing person investigation.

Melanie Greenberg, a spokeswoman for Lisa's family, said they are not working with police, nor are they trying to investigate Lisa's disappearance.

"It's been six months since anyone in the family has seen the kids," Greenberg said after the hearing. "Lisa's children are the only thing we have left of Lisa."

Lisa's parents and grandparents -- Lawrence and Judith Ruttenberg and Milton and Charlotte Ruttenberg -- filed a petition in November seeking visitation rights to the Stebic children, ages 11 and 13.

Lisa Stebic was reported missing May 1, the morning after she was last seen by her husband at home.

Police called the case a missing person investigation until July, when they named Stebic a "person of interest" in the case.

Craig remains the only person of interest, police say. He has not been charged in the case.

"(Police) are investigating him," Davi said. "They can say what they want to categorize it."

Plainfield Police Chief Don Bennett said Lisa's case walks a fine line between missing person investigation and criminal investigation.

The nearly year-long investigation into Lisa's disappearance has found no evidence to support Craig's claim that Lisa left home on her own, Bennett said.

"(Lisa's) family is not secretly working with the police department to find additional information in reference to our investigation," Bennett said. "The family basically is very concerned about the welfare of those children."

(Source: Sun-Times News Group Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2006. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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