Eddie Gardner has been missing for almost two months, and family in Oswego says police, Hertz car rental are passing the buck
OSWEGO, Ill. (CBS) -- A family's agony over a missing relative is now compounded by frustration.
Despite strong evidence suggesting that Eddie Gardner, 22, was the victim of a crime, the investigation is at a standstill.
All the clues may be connected to a Hertz rental car. But CBS 2 Political Investigator Dana Kozlov found Hertz, and police, are just pointing fingers at each other.
"I'm in limbo," said Gardner's mother, Sandy Johnson-Gardner, of Oswego. "I don't know what happened to my son. I don't know if he's still alive, or if he's dead."
Johnson-Gardner has been in that tortured state of limbo for almost two months – since March 8. That was the last time she spoke to her 22-year-old son, who vanished days later.
"Just keeping busy takes my mind off of it during the day, but the nights are hard," she said.
But Gardner's family believes he was active, and still driving the Dodge Charger he rented from Hertz in Bolingbrook, until March 13. His sister, Jessica, went into his phone log and said March 13 was the last time his phone was used.
She then went into Gardner's Waze app and saw the navigation history. That history put Gardner's last known location at 131st Street and St. Lawrence Avenue on Chicago's Far South Side.
Johnson-Gardner said she filed a missing persons report in Oswego, where he used to live with her, and began emailing Hertz.
"Begging them to track the car or report the car stolen, and Hertz wouldn't respond to me," she said.
Then, Eddie Gardner's renter Dodge Charger turned up in Hammond, Indiana – involved in a March 29 hit-and-run.
"There was an empty shell casing on the floor, and a tire shop receipt from the day before," said sister Jessica Gardner.
Kozlov asked Oswego Deputy police Chief Brad Delphey if he believes Eddie Gardner is the victim of foul play.
"We're very concerned," Delphey said. "There's just a point where his pattern of normal behavior stopped."
But even though Oswego police processed the now-damaged Charger for evidence, Delphey said they can't submit the evidence to the crime lab until it is determined that a crime was committed in their jurisdiction.
Johnson-Gardner said police told her Hertz declaring the car stolen would help. But a Hertz spokesperson told her police need to submit a formal request.
Delphey said Bolingbrook police would be in charge of doing so.
"At that time, Bolingbrook would then have a crime to investigate, and then they could take appropriate steps in the investigation that they deem necessary," Delphey said.
However, Bolingbrook police Capt. Anthony Columbus told us Oswego would be the lead police department. He said Oswego has never contacted Bolingbrook for help – and added that a missing persons case alone should be enough for Oswego to get a search warrant and submit evidence.
So where does this finger-pointing leave Eddie Gardner's mom and sister?
Stuck.
And that will remain the case until a police department or Hertz finally takes the next step.
Late Wednesday, an Oswego police spokesperson told Kozlov that based on the information she shared with them, they would reach out to Hertz and Bolingbrook police.
On Sunday Bolinbrook Captain Anthony Colombus confirmed that Hertz filed a police report about the car. Gardner's mom said Oswego's police chief told her he plans to submit the evidence they collected from the Charger to the Illinois State Crime Lab.
