The coroner says an elderly woman had been dead for an “extended time” when she was found on her bedroom floor in Vernon Hills, leading to a SWAT standoff involving her son, who lived in the home.
The Vernon Hills Police Department responded around 10:15 a.m. Friday to the 500 block of Saddlebrook Lane in Vernon Hills for a report of a well-being check.
Vernon Hills Deputy Police Chief Shannon Holubetz said officers developed information suggesting that a death occurred in the home.
Police briefly spoke with an adult male inside the residence.
He stopped communicating with officers and barricaded himself in the house, Holubetz said.
The Illinois State Police SWAT Team and Northern Illinois Police Alarm System Emergency Services Team (NIPAS EST) were both called to the scene “out of an abundance of caution.”
Officers entered the residence and discovered the body of an 81-year-old woman who was in a decomposed state, Holubetz said.
The woman’s 50-year-old son remained barricaded for several hours.
The SWAT teams arrived and began working to take the man into custody.
He was eventually taken into custody just after 6 p.m. by SWAT officers and turned over to Vernon Hills police, Holubetz said.
Officers escorted him to an awaiting ambulance. He appeared uninjured.
Holubetz said the man is currently being medically evaluated at an area hospital.
The Lake County Coroner’s Office responded to the scene to take possession of the elderly woman for an autopsy.
Lake County Chief Deputy Coroner Steven Newton told Lake and McHenry County Scanner that it was apparent the woman had been dead for an “extended period of time” but he declined to say how long.
The woman was found on the floor of her bedroom. She lived in the home with her son.
She did not have any obvious injuries at the scene and an autopsy is scheduled for Monday, Newton said.
The cause and manner of the woman’s death remain under investigation.
Her name is being withheld while the coroner’s office works to formally identify her and notify her family, Holubetz said.
The Mundelein Police Department also assisted the Vernon Hills Police Department at the scene. Police departments from throughout the Chicagoland area were also at the scene as part of the SWAT response.
Several area roads were shut down during the investigation but were reopened as of 9 p.m. Friday.
No charges have been filed against the man taken into custody.
Holubetz said there is not believed to be any danger to the community.