A 26-year-old Round Lake man who went missing in late January was found shot to death in a forest preserve in DuPage County, authorities said.
Francisco “Frankie” Zavala, 26, of Round Lake, was last seen on January 29 after being dropped off at Metro by T-Mobile, 458 North Cedar Lake Road in Round Lake.
Zavala had intended to travel by train to Indiana to visit a woman after being dropped off at the phone store by his mother, his family told Lake and McHenry County Scanner.
His family had not seen or heard from Zavala after he was dropped off at the Metro store. His phone had also since been shut off.
The Round Lake Park Police Department said in a statement that Zavala’s family filed a police report with them on February 7.
Police said that surveillance video from the Round Lake train station showed him at 10:54 a.m. January 29 boarding a Metra train headed for Chicago.
“He was reportedly enroute to the Chicago area or Indiana to visit a friend,” police said.
DuPage Forest Preserve District Police said that the body of a 26-year-old Round Lake man was found Thursday in Pratt’s Wayne Woods Forest Preserve off Munger Road in Wayne.
Police were called to the scene at 11:48 a.m. Thursday after someone from a nearby horse stable reported finding a deceased male in the preserve, DuPage Forest Preserve District Police Chief David Pederson said.
“According to law enforcement sources the man had suspected gang affiliations and had been missing,” Pederson said.
Police found the body less than 30 feet from the side of the road and fresh tire tracks nearby.
Metropolitan Emergency Response & Investigation Team (MERIT) crime scene and evidence technicians and the DuPage County Coroner’s Office were called to the scene.
Investigators and the coroner’s office discovered gunshot wounds on the man.
The MERIT Major Crimes Unit also responded to the scene to help further investigate the incident, Pederson said.
The DuPage County Coroner’s Office performed an autopsy on the body and confirmed it was Zavala.