2 Illinois brothers released as probe of 2 bodies continues

Two brothers who told police they buried their mother and sister’s bodies in their suburban Chicago home’s backyard years ago after they died have been released from custody as authorities continue investigating two bodies found buried there

Illinois-Backyard Excavation

Two brothers who told police they buried their mother and sister's bodies in their suburban Chicago home's backyard years ago after they died have been released from custody as authorities continue investigating two bodies found buried there last weekend.

The brothers, ages 41 and 45, were released on their own recognizance Monday following a 48-hour custody hold in cooperation with the Cook County state’s attorney’s office. The men were taken into custody Saturday after two bodies were found in the backyard in Lyons

Those bodies have not yet been identified, and investigators said they will use DNA to determine whether the remains are the brothers’ biological relatives.

Lyons Police Chief Tom Herion said in a statement Monday evening that while the brothers were released, they “continue to be the subject of the death investigation."

The men have not been charged, but they face potential felonies for illegally burying the bodies found Saturday.

Herion said Lyons police were “looking at every aspect of the brothers and the deceased, including examining financial records,” and determining the cause of death of the two people whose bodies were excavated by crews.

“We continue to look into this case with the help of the Cook County Medical Examiner who is doing a forensic evaluation of the remains that were removed from the backyard on Saturday,” Herion said.

The brothers told police their sister pushed their mother, who was in her late 70s, down the stairs of the home in 2015, causing “some type of head contusion” that caused her death. They also told police their sister died in 2019.

No records exist of their deaths, Herion said last week. He said one brother who led police to where the bodies could be found told investigators they were buried in the yard for financial reasons.

Investigators were still collecting any possible evidence from their home 12 miles (19 kilometers) southwest of Chicago.

The home came to the attention of authorities when public works officials noticed that water had not been used at the home for more than a year.

Police conducting a well-being check at the home last Thursday found it filled with clutter, and with no running water or working toilets. Human feces and large containers filled with urine littered the home, Herion said.