Crime & Safety

Coroner Seeks Identity of Man Found in Des Plaines River

Dental records sought to help determine who was pulled out of the DesPlaines River south of Deerfield Road in Riverwoods Wednesday.

The identity of a man pulled from the DesPlaines River Wednesday night south of Deerfield Road in Riverwoods will not be known until at least Friday morning when the Lake County Coroner performs an autopsy.

“He is a John Doe,” Chief Deputy Lake County Coroner Orlando Portillo said. “We have an idea who he might be but until we do the autopsy he will remain a John Doe.” Portillo hopes dental records will provide the information to determine who the person is.

At this point, the coroner cannot determine a cause of death, how long the man has been dead, his age or his race. “The variation of the water temperature and the temperature outside the water makes it too hard to tell,” Portillo said.

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There was some speculation the person could be Ronald Kite of Deerfield who has been missing since July 29. Though Deerfield Police Chief John Sliozis said his department has been in touch with the Riverwoods Police Department to investigate the possibility, no determination can be made at this point.

The state of the decomposition of the body makes it impossible to tell who the person might be at this point, according to Portillo. The autopsy is scheduled Friday morning and Patch will have an update as soon as an identity or cause of death is released.

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