Stacy Ann Peterson, a 23-year-old mother of two, vanished from her Bolingbrook, Illinois, home on October 28, 2007. At the time of her disappearance, she was a nursing student at Joliet Junior College. Her husband, Drew Peterson, a sergeant with the Bolingbrook Police Department, claimed he last spoke to her on the phone the evening of her disappearance and that she had left him for another man. Stacy was scheduled to help her sister paint a house that day but never arrived. Drew Peterson reported that he found his wife's car at a nearby airport and drove it home, but he did not report her missing until the following day, a delay that investigators found suspicious. No signs of a struggle were found in the home, and Stacy left behind no note or communication. Her friends and family insisted that the devoted mother would never have willingly abandoned her children.
The investigation into Stacy's disappearance soon led authorities to re-examine the death of Drew Peterson's third wife, Kathleen Savio. Savio was found deceased in a dry bathtub in 2004, and her death was initially ruled an accidental drowning. However, after Stacy went missing, Savio's body was exhumed, and a second autopsy revealed evidence of a struggle, leading to her death being reclassified as a homicide. In the weeks following Stacy's disappearance, investigators conducted multiple searches of the Peterson home, removing various items as evidence. A week and a half after she was last seen, authorities announced they believed Stacy was a victim of foul play and named her husband as a suspect in her presumed homicide.
Although Stacy Peterson's body has never been found, her case remains an active investigation, and she is presumed to be deceased. In May 2009, Drew Peterson was arrested and charged with the murder of Kathleen Savio. Prosecutors argued that he killed his third wife to avoid financial repercussions in their divorce settlement. During his trial in 2012, hearsay statements from both Stacy Peterson and Kathleen Savio were admitted as evidence under a new Illinois law, which played a significant role in the proceedings. Drew Peterson was found guilty of Savio's murder and sentenced to 38 years in prison. He has never been charged in connection with Stacy's disappearance. The case garnered significant national media attention and continues to be a subject of public interest, with the central question of what happened to Stacy Peterson and her whereabouts remaining unanswered.
Last Seen: Oct 28, 2007
