Detectives have arrested a 52-year-old man who admitted to wrapping up a dead missing woman from Antioch and dumping her body in a garbage can at a home in Waukegan.
The Waukegan Police Department on Thursday afternoon discovered a deceased person in the 700 block of Yeoman Street in Waukegan.
The police department’s Major Crime Scene Unit and Criminal Investigation Division were called to the scene along with patrol officers.
Lake County Chief Deputy Coroner Steve Newton confirmed his office responded to the scene around 5 p.m. and took possession of a “deceased individual.”
The coroner’s office performed an autopsy on the subject on Friday afternoon and the subject has since been positively identified.
Newton said further information, such as her cause and manner of death, was not immediately available.
Jennifer Bos told Lake and McHenry County Scanner on Saturday that her daughter, Megan Bos, 37, of Antioch, was the one found at the scene.
Bos was reported missing to the Antioch Police Department after she was last heard from on February 17.
Antioch police detectives last month said they were pursuing multiple leads and coordinating with several law enforcement agencies in northeastern Illinois and southeastern Wisconsin in Bos’ search as they sought the community’s help.
Bos said “our hearts are broken” and that she could not talk about her daughter’s death further as it is being investigated.
Waukegan Deputy Police Chief Scott Chastain said detectives were following up on a lead when they discovered the deceased woman at the residence, which is located north of Grand Avenue on Yeoman Street.
Crime scene tape was placed around the property of a single-family home as investigators remained at the scene for hours into the evening.
Investigators arrested Jose Mendoza-Gonzalez, 52, who resides in Waukegan and is a Mexican national, in connection with Bos’ death.
Mendoza-Gonzalez was charged with abuse of a corpse, two counts of concealing the death of a person and obstructing justice.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Manuel Mandujano said investigators learned Mendoza-Gonzalez was the last person to communicate with Bos on February 19.
Mendoza-Gonzalez was interviewed and admitted that on February 19, he was with Bos in the basement of his home on Yeoman Street.
He said he noticed a leak from an upstairs bathroom. He went upstairs to investigate and was gone for approximately five minutes, Mandujano said.
Mendoza-Gonzalez told detectives Bos was no longer alive when he came back downstairs.
Mendoza-Gonzalez said he believed her death was from drug use, Mandujano said. He left the woman’s body in the basement for a few days.
Mandujano said Mendoza-Gonzalez wrapped Bos’ body in a blanket and placed her in a garbage can outside of his home.
Investigators located the partially decomposed body in the rear of the residence in the garbage can.
Mendoza-Gonzalez also said he broke Bos’ phone and threw it away, Mandujano said.
All of the charges against Mendoza-Gonzalez are Class 4 felonies but none of them are detainable offenses under Illinois’ SAFE-T Act, which ended cash bail in the state.
Lake County Judge Randie Bruno, who was the judge to authorize the search warrant in the case and called the offense “very serious,” released Mendoza-Gonzalez from custody following a First Appearance Court on Saturday morning.
Mendoza-Gonzalez, who does not have prior criminal history in the United States, was placed on Level 4 pre-trial services monitoring.
He was ordered not to have any contact with the victim’s mother and not to leave the state without court permission.
Mendoza-Gonzalez will be subject to random drug and alcohol screenings. He will also be placed on a curfew.
Mendoza-Gonzalez is scheduled to appear in court again on May 8 for a preliminary hearing.