The medical examiner says the cause and manner of death are pending for a Wisconsin father who was found dead in his car in a creek after he disappeared following dinner in Crystal Lake.
Benjamin Stephen Oberto, 45, of New Berlin, Wisconsin, was reported missing to the New Berlin Police Department on Thursday.
The Illinois State Police Division of Criminal Investigation Zone 1 announced Saturday morning that the search for Oberto had ended.
The Rosemont Police Department located a Subaru Impreza with Wisconsin registration on Friday evening.
The vehicle was partially submerged in a creek at the bottom of an embankment on the curve from the eastbound Interstate 90 ramp to northbound Interstate 294.
Divers located a body inside the vehicle, later identified as Oberto.
ISP said they have taken over as the lead agency on the investigation and further details were not immediately available.
The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office said an autopsy was performed on Oberto on Saturday.
A cause and manner of death determination was not made and remains pending.
Laura Leatherberry said her husband was last seen at 8:55 p.m. Wednesday at 1776 Restaurant in Crystal Lake.
He was assumed to be headed home to New Berlin, Wisconsin, from the restaurant.
Leatherberry said that her husband’s last phone call was at 9:26 p.m. that evening and at 10:11 p.m. his phone went directly to voicemail.
A missing person report and police across Wisconsin and Illinois were involved in the search for Oberto, who was the father of a 3-year-old and a 21-year-old.
Police requested location data from the man’s cellular provider and his phone was pinged in the area of Chicago, Rosemont and O’Hare Airport around 9:45 p.m. Wednesday.
The phone went dead after that, Leatherberry said.
Leatherberry said Friday that it was confirmed that her husband has not taken a flight out of O’Hare Airport and it was likely he was still in the greater Chicago area.
She also said her husband’s I-PASS toll record registered him at the Elgin plaza but there was no exit toll.