West Suburban Bureau

BOLINGBROOK, Ill. (CBS) ― Could the answer to what happened to Bolingbrook mother Stacy Peterson lie inside a missing blue barrel? The Chicago Sun-Times reports police are looking for an unknown man who a neighbor reportedly saw helping Drew Peterson load a blue barrel into his sport-utility vehicle.

As CBS 2's Mai Martinez reports, this is not the first time Stacy Peterson's family has heard about the barrel.

For weeks, Stacy Peterson's family members have been searching for any sign of the missing 23-year-old mother with no luck. Now, their search for answer seems to be bringing them back to some familiar areas and tips. One of those tips came from a Peterson neighbor.

"Somebody sawing Drew Peterson carrying a barrel with somebody you know, we don't know," said family friend Pamela Bosco. "It's been a while since we heard that, so why it's coming to the surface now, is there any value in it? I don't know. I sure hope it leads to something."

Bosco says state police want to talk to the "mystery man" the neighbor said helped Drew Peterson load the barrel into the back of Peterson's now-confiscated sport-utility vehicle.

Based on that information, searchers have been on the lookout for the barrel for weeks. They've spotted more than 10 of them since Stacy disappeared. But so far there's been no sign of Stacy. Still Bosco says the search for the barrel will go on.

"I sure hope it leads to something. It sounds very interesting to me," Bosco said.

According to the Sun-Times, the neighbor said it happened just hours after Stacy Peterson was last seen.

Stacy Peterson's sister, Cassandra Cales, recalls seeing a large blue barrel in the Peterson garage before her sister vanished. Cales says Stacy said the barrel was full of chlorine that Drew needed to clean the family's pool.

In addition to the missing blue barrel that police have told the family they're looking for, sources say scuba diving weights are also missing from Drew's house. That may have led investigators to search numerous ponds, including one near Clow Airfield where sources say cadaver dogs hit on something.

Sources say the dogs also hit on something in an upstairs bedroom of the Peterson house -- the same bedroom where sources say a nightstand is believed to have turned up missing. That's led investigators to question recent visitors to the Peterson home about what furniture they recalled seeing in that room.

Since Stacy Peterson was reported missing to state police by her family, troopers executed a pair of search warrants at the couple's Pheasant Chase Court home, seizing property and two automobiles, including the SUV.

A police source said tests conducted on the vehicle at the state police laboratory have not been completed. But another source said police located pieces of blue plastic on the back end of the car.

In recent weeks, Drew Peterson; his brother, Paul; and his son, Oak Brook Police Officer Steve Peterson, all have been called to testify before a grand jury. A police source would not say if either Drew Peterson's brother or son has an alibi for the night following the last sighting of Stacy Peterson.

"We don't know yet," the source said. "Everyone is suspect."

While everyone might be a suspect, State Police Capt. Carl Dobrich made a point of identifying Drew Peterson as one by name. Dobrich also classified the investigation of Stacy Peterson's disappearance as a "potential homicide."

Meanwhile, family members say it was tough to try and celebrate Thanksgiving without Stacy, but her sister, Cassandra Cales, tried to make the best of it by inviting Stacy's children over.

"I understand from Cassandra the other evening that she asked to have the children for Thanksgiving and he denied that. He said 'no they were going to stay inside the house,'" said Sharon Bychowski, a friend of Stacy's.

Stacy Peterson, 23, vanished Oct. 28. She allegedly was on her way to help the boyfriend of her sister, Cassandra Cales, paint a house in Yorkville, but never arrived. Drew Peterson has repeatedly insisted Stacy ran off with another man.

A man from Stacy's past whom she had recently reached out to, 35-year-old Scott Rossetto of Shorewood, admitted that he and the missing woman traded sexually charged text messages for the three weeks leading up to her disappearance. Rossetto denies having carried on an affair with Stacy Peterson, but did say he met her at a Bolingbrook Denny's restaurant nine days before she vanished. An uninvited Drew Peterson interrupted the rendezvous, Rossetto said.

A police source says they have "good information" Stacy was dumped in the Shorewood area near the home of Rossetto. Another source said investigators believe the killer may have attempted to frame Rossetto by depositing the body near his house.

"Day and night they're working on it and they have their own search and rescue teams out there that they are working with so they are conducting searches along with the investigation," Bosco said.

Bosco says the family's search for Stacy Peterson will resume Saturday morning at 9 o'clock. They are asking volunteers to meet them at The Bolingbrook Recreation and Aquatic Center.

CBS 2 West Suburban Bureau Chief Mike Puccinelli and Mai Martinez, and the STNG Wire, contributed to this report.

cbs2chicago.com's Most Popular Pages
 Slideshow: The Search For Stacy Peterson
 Slideshow: Toxic And Troublesome Toys
 Slideshow: '90s TV Stars Then & Now
 Slideshow: World's Most Bizarre Deaths
 Slideshow: In To Be Out: Gay Celebrities
 Slideshow: Did You Know? Stars From Chicago!

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

Editor's Picks

• CBS 2 WeatherTrak Forecast
• Gay Celebrities
• Famous People Pigging Out
• Did You Know? Stars From Chicago!
• 2009 Celebrity Deaths