Man Found Dead In Trunk In Crete Township Home After Reported Home Invasion
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A man was found dead in the trunk of a vehicle inside his unincorporated Crete Township home Monday morning after an apparent home invasion, according to the Will County Sheriff's Office.
The coroner identified the victim on Tuesday afternoon: Francisco Aranda, 63. The cause of death has yet to be determined.
BREAKING: Will County Coroner confirms 63-year-old Crete Twp man found dead in the trunk of his car was Francisco Aranda. Cause of death pending autopsy and toxicology reports. @cbschicago pic.twitter.com/IdtSvC4Kxf
— Megan Hickey (@MeganHickeyTV) June 4, 2019
Aranda owns a food market in the 1600 block of West 47th Street in Chicago. That market has been robbed twice, according to Chicago police--in March 2019 and October of 2018. Will County sheriff deputies were parked outside the business on Tuesday afternoon.
Will County Sheriffs Dept. stationed outside his business. Store has been closed all day and police are investigating. Employees tell me the store has been robbed several times, most recently in March. @cbschicago pic.twitter.com/7u2LLIuNH3
— Megan Hickey (@MeganHickeyTV) June 4, 2019
Deputies went to the home in the 26000 block of South Klemme Road around 10:30 a.m. for a welfare check after a relative said the man and his wife had not shown up to work and were not answering their phones, a release from the sheriff's office states.
Deputies found a 59-year-old woman inside a vehicle in the home's attached garage.
The woman said her husband was in the trunk of the vehicle and that two masked males came into the home Sunday evening to rob them.
Aranda was pronounced dead on the scene.
The woman was taken to a hospital and stabilized.
A death investigation is ongoing, and Will County Sheriff's Office sought to assure Crete Township neighbors that there is no danger to the public.
"This appears to be a targeted attack, and we do not expect the residents of Unincorporated Crete Township to be at risk for further violence," Deputy Chief Dan Jungles stated in an email.
It wasn't the first time that normally quiet road has seen a death investigation. A young man killed his brother and raped his sister just blocks away more than 20 years ago.
More than 20 years ago, there was another death investigation on the same street in Crete Township, just a few blocks away.
In March 1995, while free on bond in another murder case, 19-year-old Steven Pfiel killed his older brother, Roger, and sexually assaulted his sister at a home on the 26400 block of Klemme Road. At the time, Pfiel already was charged with the 1993 stabbing death of 13-year-old Hillary Norskog, of Palos Hills, at a forest preserve in Palos Township.
Pfiel pleaded guilty to both murders, and is serving a life sentence at Menard Correctional Center.