During a warrant as part of an investigation into the shooting death of a missing Round Lake man, police arrested a McHenry man after finding drugs and guns in a McHenry residence Thursday.
The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office and DuPage MERIT Major Crimes Unit executed a search warrant in the 1400 block of North Chapel Hill Road in McHenry around 5 a.m. Thursday.
The warrant was related to an ongoing investigation into the death of Francisco Zavala, 26, of Round Lake.
Zavala’s body was found in DuPage County at Pratt’s Wayne Woods Forest Preserve on March 3 after the man went missing in late January.
During the warrant, officers found 447 grams of methamphetamine and 4,537 grams of cannabis, according to a motion filed in McHenry County Circuit Court.
Police also found a sawed-off Ruger shotgun and a .22 caliber rifle with no serial number, the motion said.
Luis E. Rangel, 26, of the 1400 block of North Chapel Hill Road in McHenry, was charged with unlawful possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine, unlawful possession of methamphetamine, unlawful possession with the intent to deliver cannabis, unlawful possession of cannabis and two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm with a FOID.
DuPage MERIT Major Crimes Unit Deputy Coordinator Tom Stefanson told Lake and McHenry County Scanner on Thursday that no one had been charged yet in connection with Zavala’s death.
Fire department sonar crews were also called to Diamond Lake in Mundelein around 8 a.m. Thursday to assist in “evidence recovery” as part of the investigation.
Zavala was last seen on January 29 after being dropped off at Metro by T-Mobile, 458 North Cedar Lake Road in Round Lake, according to his family.
He 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 had not seen or heard from him after he was dropped off at the Metro store. His phone had also been shut off.
The Round Lake Park Police Department previously said 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. on 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.
On March 3, police were called to Pratt’s Wayne Woods Forest Preserve in Wayne around 11:48 a.m. after someone from a nearby horse stable reported finding a deceased male in the preserve, DuPage Forest Preserve District Police Chief David Pederson said last month.
“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.
The DuPage County Coroner’s Office performed an autopsy on the body and confirmed it was Zavala.