Body found in Lowell may be missing man
BY SUSAN DEMAR LAFFERTY slafferty@southtownstar.com July 9, 2012 11:22PM
Ross
Maps
Updated: August 12, 2012 6:20AM
A silver Ford Taurus driven by a missing Lowell, Ind., man was discovered Sunday afternoon in a wooded area in Lowell, with a decomposed body in the driver’s seat, officials said.
Lake County Chief Deputy Coroner PJ Adams said Tuesday officials were trying to secure dental records to confirm the dead person’s identity. Otherwise, they will wait for the results of DNA testing, a process that could take up to two months, officials said.
The cause of death is blunt force trauma, pending further investigation, the sheriff’s office said.
Dan Ross, 55, of Lowell, has been missing since June 25. He last was seen dropping his son off at Schrum School in Calumet City at 6:30 a.m. and was driving the 2011 Taurus, owned by his company, Nationwide Insurance.
Adams confirmed that the vehicle that was found was the one Ross was driving.
Tracks show the car left Mount Street in the 17100 block and headed east onto a farm path. The car then left the path and headed northeast through a bean field into a wooded area until it hit a tree, officials said.
The case is under investigation.
Lowell Police Chief John Shelhart said the property owner’s grandson had gone out to check his deer stands, saw the vehicle and called police.
“It was down in a thickly wooded area. It would never have been found until the leaves were off the trees,” Shelhart said.
