Stacy Peterson's Family Won't Have Her Declared Legally Dead After All
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Seven years ago Tuesday, Stacy Peterson disappeared from her home in Will County, never to be seen again, and her family said they are now reconsidering a decision to file papers to declare her legally dead.
"No, I don't think it's something that we're considering at this point," said Pamela Bosco, spokeswoman for Stacy Peterson's family.
That's a reversal from this summer, when Peterson's sister, Cassandra Cales, told the Southtown Star the family would seek to have Peterson declared legally dead to emphasize the family's belief Peterson did not run off, as her husband Drew Peterson has claimed.
Bosco said the family is concerned if Stacy Peterson were declared legally dead, Drew Peterson might be allowed to collect on her life insurance policy.
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Drew Peterson has been declared a suspect in Stacy Peterson's disappearance, but has not been charged in that case. However, the investigation of Stacy Peterson's disappearance led investigators to reopen the investigation into the death of Drew Peterson's third wife, Kathleen Savio, and in September 2012, he was convicted of killing Savio.
Bosco said Stacy Peterson's family has grown discouraged about her disappearance, because Illinois State Police investigators haven't updated the family in a while.
"We've lost touch with them. After a lot of the head people left ... it just sort of dissipated," Bosco said.
In a statement, Illinois State Police said, "The Peterson case has always remained active and continues to be very active. While agents may not always be in contact with the family with every lead, they are still actively investigating the case. In fact, we have been following up on several leads - which we are not at liberty to make public or discuss at this time."
Meantime, Bosco said Cales has been out with volunteers, searching parts of Will County with cadaver dogs. Cales has regularly conducted such searches, but has turned up no evidence of what happened to her sister.
