UPDATE: Body Pulled from the Kishwaukee River Identified

The woman found dead in the Kishwaukee River Sunday, April 20, has been identified as Beverly Janet Gritzmaker, 46, of Rockford.

Winnebago County Coroner Sue Fiduccia said Gritzmaker was pronounced dead at 6 p.m., Sunday after being pulled from the river by rescue personnel. Her cause of death is inconclusive pending forensic testing.

An autopsy is scheduled for Monday, April 21. Results from toxicology tests will be available in approximately two weeks, Fiduccia said.

The Winnebago County Sheriff’s office is investigating the case.

http://www.wifr.com/home/headlines/Body ... 58951.html

The white bridge can be seen from our campground. I've kayaked under that bridge on many occasions. The victim is the third found in the area in the last two years. All found by kayakers. All the activity took place Sunday afternoon while I was doing some landscaping to our camping site. The fire department flotillas passed our site several times.

http://www.wifr.com/home/headlines/255958951.html

UPDATE: Body Pulled from the Kishwaukee River; Death Classified as Murder:

Detectives believe the woman found dead in the Kishwaukee River over the weekend was murdered. The Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office says eight investigators and Rockford Police are on the case.

The woman has been identified as 46-year-old Beverly Gritzmaker. Police say her autopsy showed she sustained trauma to her upper body. More test results are still pending. Investigators say there’s no clear idea of where the crime may have been committed so they have to dig deep and try to retrace Gritzmaker’s steps as far back as they can.

“Who this lady had been with, who are her friends, what are her habits, what is her lifestyle, where is her family, when was the last time someone had contact with her, try to put all that information together so it’s a time-consuming process,” said Deputy Chief Dominic Iasparro with the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputy Chief Iasparro says they don’t know how long the body was in the water, but all it takes is days before some of the crucial evidence is washed away by the water, evidence that is key to finding out how Gritzmaker died and who may have killed her.
Investigators say cases like these can take a long time to solve.

Anyone with information in this case is asked to call the Sheriff's Department at 815-319-6300 or CrimeStoppers at 815-963-7867.

Did she have a place at your campground, JOE?

No JR! I don't recognize the name.

I've fished the spot where they found her many times. That area near the white bridge is good for small mouth fishing. Kayaking, the spot where they found her is about 5 minutes from the campground.

I would imagine that the police will be searching all along that river bank including the campground searching for clues. The river flows past the campground to the spot where they found her. On Sunday afternoon, I saw the fire department rafts combing the river shores just behind the trailer. There aren't too many accessible areas for a body dump with the area being so wooded and hilly, so I'm guessing they'll be searching the parks along the way as well as the few access areas for canoes and kayaks.

I still haven't brought my kayak from home yet. I probably won't for another couple of weeks yet.

Be careful out there Joez!

From 1996: One of Jim's friends posted this on Facebook

Just a few notes from a "lurker," I do appreciate all the time everyone takes in posting. I get more news and better opinions from this forum than anywhere else.
I am in Arkansas right now as my youngest son will be graduating this Friday from high school. An unfortunate heel injury hurt his chances of breaking the school pole vault record, but he did finish 3rd in the state in 7A. He also was selected to the Fort Smith Southside Track Hall of Fame for his 2 all state years. He is leaving for the U S Army Resever basic training in July. Infantry training and jump school at Fort Bragg, along with Cyber Warfare School. Gets done with that and should be home in time for Spring Semester at University of Arkansas ROTC. He is unsure if he will try out for the track team or not.

Highlight of the Meet of Champions on Saturday (after driving all night), was witnessing 2 young ladies (twins actually) finish one - two. The highlight was a meet/new state record in the girls pole vault at 14' She attempted to break the national record of 14'3.25" by trying 14'3.5" Unfortunately, she saw the bar come down. Every event there stopped, during her 3 attempts.
I think I was told her and her twin are now ranked 1 and 3 in the nation.

Nice! Good luck to your son. Keep in touch.

What Lou said.

Congrats to your son, Larry! Hope you post here more often. Let me know if you're planning on going to any games.

Looks like a pretty decent weekend in store..........FINALLY !

We're all packed and ready to start our long holiday weekend. Won't be back until Wednesday of next week. Finally going to get the kayak launched and I just paid for my fishing license.

Just checked the forecast, and it's supposed to snow up there this weekend

Have a great time, JOE!

You've probably seen this video, but I just found out it was ex-Indian and porno movie star, Kaz Tadano:

http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/post/_/ ... phus-pitch

Flashback photo: Winter Haven circa 2000