Crime & Safety

Report: Joliet Woman's Body Identified, Son Implicated in Murder Case

Coroner's office traces serial number of a medical appliance in woman's body to identify her.

A woman's body found floating in the Des Plaines River on Thursday has been identified. And her son is suspected in what Joliet police are calling a murder case, according to a Sun-Times News Group report.

The body of Joan M. Smith, 59, was identified by Will County Coroner Patrick K. O'Neil's team by tracing a serial number on a medical appliance in her body after an autopsy on Friday, according to the report.

Smith, reported missing on Monday by her sister, was pronounced dead at the scene of where her body was found—floating in the Des Plaines River about 1/4-mile west of Brandon Road—at 1:30 p.m. Thursday. She lived with her two sons in the 1600 block of Black Road in Joliet, according to the Sun-Times News Group report.

One of those two sons—Shane Smith, 32, was booked into Will County jail at about 5:30 a.m. Saturday on charges of concealing a homicide and obstructing justice, according to the report, which also stated murder charges are pending against him but did not indicate what the motive was for his actions.

Smith previously served time in prison for armed robbery, according to the report.






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