GUILTY IL - Katrina Smith, 30, beaten to death, Machesney Park, 23 Oct 2012 - #2

[McDonough]

This crossed my mind also .. under normal circumstances, it would be the husband, huh? I wonder WHO is making the arrangments etc.

I also thought I saw at the link that she was being cremated...

*I'll correct myself .. I just noticed that the place is a buriel and cremation place...* I don't see anything about her being cremated ...

imo

Hubby is a funeral director in Illinois so I can answer some of these questions. Legally, her husband is next of kin and is the only person who can give authorization to the funeral home regarding arrangements (burial, cremation, etc.) that's not to say a hat Todd didn't give her mom and stepbrother his authorization to make arrangements. Since they were not legally separated their living arrangements have no bearing on who can make decisions.

Regarding date of death - on her death certificate the date that the body was discovered, Friday, November 9, will be her legal date of death in the eyes of the state. What the funeral home lists is what the family has chosen to have posted.
Chances are, because of the state of her body when it was discovered, cremation will be chosen but its not a certainty.

The one thing that struck me as off was the wording regarding the release of the full obituary. Since this is just the funeral home website it would be customary to post the full obituary when arrangements are finalized. I'm wondering if the family is waiting until tomorrow to wait and see if someone is arrested in her death. I would see them not wanting to include Todd if he is charged in her death.

 

[McDonough]

Have we ever learned who the friend is that Katrina was currently living at his/her condo in Roscoe?

For whatever reason I initially was assuming the condo was unoccupied prior to Katrina moving in...as in it was a friend's condo that at that time was not being used and this offered to Katrina to move into when separating from Todd..

Does anyone have any clarification on this issue or whose condo it is and was the friend also living there when Katrina moved in?

FYI am not implying AT ALL possible involvement in her death, but rather just trying to go back and clarify an issue I now realize I have nothing at all confirming my intial assumption of the condo being vacant and Katrina living alone..jmo.

I have heard from a friend of mine that the condo was owned by her friend that had moved out of the area and that Katrina was living alone in it. It was reported somewhere that she moved in October 12th, so approximately 10 days before her disappearance.

 

[nervous_nellie]

respectfully snipped by me for space from SmoothOperators previous post:

MOO is that we still don't know EXACTLY the sequence of when the car was officially located(7:50pm) vs when Todd went to Roscoe to report her missing..

Now do you think that's just a coinkydink that LE has remained tight lipped on exactly what time TS went to Roscoe Tuesday evening to report her missing???

I sure don't.. I believe it is for very specific reason that this is withheld .. We can certainly conclude that the official discovery of the car in Machesney Park(7:50pm) and the time TS drives to Roscoe PD to report her missing ARE EXTREMELY CLOSE TOGETHER IN TIME..jmo.. But the question is which came first..

MOO is that it was a combo of several fam/friends aware and concerned along with possibly TS becoming aware that neighbors had seen the abandoned car that morning..and that he knew people were putting the two and two together so he had no choice but to report her as missing..KWIM??

**hoping that made sense cuz it makes perfect sense in my head..lol..:crazy:[/quote]


it somewhat reminds me of when Drew Peterson had his neighbor go in the house to check on Kathleen Savio only for the neighbor to have found her "drowned"...thats the kind of coinkydink im thinking of.

 

[cocomod]

yeah in Rockford, everyone assumes TS is guilty, that is all you hear from everyone you talk to as they are just going on the news reports or LE press releases.

I know that you are a local, so this must be terribly hard on you. Are you now leaning at all towards TS being guilty, or do you believe that this was a stranger abduction, or is someone else out there that was close to Katrina that hurt her?

 

[McDonough]

respectfully snipped by me for space from SmoothOperators previous post:

MOO is that we still don't know EXACTLY the sequence of when the car was officially located(7:50pm) vs when Todd went to Roscoe to report her missing..

Now do you think that's just a coinkydink that LE has remained tight lipped on exactly what time TS went to Roscoe Tuesday evening to report her missing???

I sure don't.. I believe it is for very specific reason that this is withheld .. We can certainly conclude that the official discovery of the car in Machesney Park(7:50pm) and the time TS drives to Roscoe PD to report her missing ARE EXTREMELY CLOSE TOGETHER IN TIME..jmo.. But the question is which came first..

MOO is that it was a combo of several fam/friends aware and concerned along with possibly TS becoming aware that neighbors had seen the abandoned car that morning..and that he knew people were putting the two and two together so he had no choice but to report her as missing..KWIM??

**hoping that made sense cuz it makes perfect sense in my head..lol..:crazy:

it somewhat reminds me of when Drew Peterson had his neighbor go in the house to check on Kathleen Savio only for the neighbor to have found her "drowned"...thats the kind of coinkydink im thinking of.[/QUOTE]


Or when Scott Peterson called Laci's mom to see if she was over there since she wasn't at home...even though he knew her body was already in the bay where he left her.

 

[nervous_nellie]

do we know if Todd works? not sleuthing him out exactly, but just wondering if where her car was abandoned would have been a road he should normally have driven much earlier than when he reported her missing...im only asking this because more than a few of Katrinas friends reported seeing her car abandoned through out the day...so, is it reasonable that Todd would not of noticed the car?

 

[Eileen730]

"Page no longer available" it says now.



They wouldn't know but maybe because the body was so strongly decomposed they thought it's odd to put the date she was found.

There may be proof in her car that she was dead the day she went missing!
JMO

 

[Janeumayer]

In cases when it is hard to determine time of death, the coroner uses the missing date as the deceased date. They did the same in the little Jessica case.

 

[McDonough]

In cases when it is hard to determine time of death, the coroner uses the missing date as the deceased date. They did the same in the little Jessica case.

In Illinois when someone is missing like Katrina, the date the body is discovered is legally listed as the date of death so November 9, 2012 will be listed on her death certificate.

 

[scadder21]

Hubby is a funeral director in Illinois so I can answer some of these questions. Legally, her husband is next of kin and is the only person who can give authorization to the funeral home regarding arrangements (burial, cremation, etc.) that's not to say a hat Todd didn't give her mom and stepbrother his authorization to make arrangements. Since they were not legally separated their living arrangements have no bearing on who can make decisions.

Regarding date of death - on her death certificate the date that the body was discovered, Friday, November 9, will be her legal date of death in the eyes of the state. What the funeral home lists is what the family has chosen to have posted.
Chances are, because of the state of her body when it was discovered, cremation will be chosen but its not a certainty.

The one thing that struck me as off was the wording regarding the release of the full obituary. Since this is just the funeral home website it would be customary to post the full obituary when arrangements are finalized. I'm wondering if the family is waiting until tomorrow to wait and see if someone is arrested in her death. I would see them not wanting to include Todd if he is charged in her death.

How do we know that they weren't legally separated?

 

[McDonough]

How do we know that they weren't legally separated?

Just assuming this since Todd himself stated that they were happily married and living together. Of course this could be incorrect but knowing how the media tends to sleuth these facts out rather quickly its probably safe to assume that they were not, in the eyes of the law, legally separated.

Living apart, absolutely.
Planning to divorce, possibly.
Legally separated at the time of her disappearance, probably not.

 

[LunaLight]

WIFR just announced LE plans to release info later this week.

 

[LunaLight]

http://www.wifr.com/home/headlines/Breaking-Body-Identified-as-Katrina-Smith-178434131.html

UPDATE: MACHESNEY PARK (WIFR) -- We're hoping to learn more this week about how Katrina Smith, the Machesney Park woman who disappeared three weeks ago, died.

The Winnebago County Sheriff's Department tells us they expect to release more information this week. Smith's body was found floating in the Rock River just south of Byron, Friday. An autopsy was done over the weekend, however the results have not yet been made public. A visitation is scheduled for later in the week.

UPDATE (WIFR) -- On November 9, 2012, the body of an unidentified female was discovered in the river in Ogle County. The Ogle County Sheriff’s Department responded and recovered the female body.

On November 10, 2012, an autopsy was conducted by the Ogle County Coroner’s Office. Detectives from the Ogle County and Winnebago County Sheriff’s Departments attended the autopsy. Based on dental records, the female was positively identified as Katrina Smith.

The Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department is taking the case back from Ogle County and will continue the investigation into her disappearance and death.

The Ogle County Sheriff’s Department and Ogle County Sheriff Harn request that any media inquiries be directed to the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department.

Further inquiries can be made through Sergeant Larry Marino 815-509-2191.


**FYI The other stations do not appear to be covering the story this evening.

 

[southernnana]

SmoothOperator, I am glad you agree with my posts!!


Posted 11-12-2012 2:38 PM

MOO is that we still don't know EXACTLY the sequence of when the car was officially located(7:50pm) vs when Todd went to Roscoe to report her missing..

Now do you think that's just a coinkydink that LE has remained tight lipped on exactly what time TS went to Roscoe Tuesday evening to report her missing???

MOO is that it was a combo of several fam/friends aware and concerned along with possibly TS becoming aware that neighbors had seen the abandoned car that morning..and that he knew people were putting the two and two together so he had no choice but to report her as missing..KWIM??

<snipped> and BBM


Posted Yesterday, 01:38 AM

:cop: :detective:

The following Link for the Winnebago Sheriff's Department press releases provides confirmation on who reported Katrina missing and the approximate time frame the "missing report" was taken. I am beginning to believe LE has a reason for not providing, as a public record, the specific time this report was taken by police.

http://www.winnebagosheriff.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=324&Itemid=160

On the evening of Tuesday October 23, 2012 Katrina A. Smith (white female/DOB 7-16-82/30yrs old) was reported missing to the Roscoe Police Department. She was reported missing by her husband.

<snipped> and BBM


Posted Yesterday, 07:46 PM

:heartbeat: :heartbeat: :heartbeat:

My feeling is that bf, close friends, and family were attempting to contact her to see how the job interview went or other matters, and were unable to do so. Thus ... the beginning ... and I have no idea how that ties in with TS reporting her on Tuesday evening..

<snipped> and BBM

 

[SmoothOperator]

In Illinois when someone is missing like Katrina, the date the body is discovered is legally listed as the date of death so November 9, 2012 will be listed on her death certificate.

I respectfully disagree that this is the way in which Illinois coroners office/ME determine what or how an official DOD Is given for victims.. I do not believe that it can be painted with such a wide sweeping brush, but rather as I stated upthread it varies literally from case to case dependant upon multiples variables..

Just to give an example off the top of my head to substantiate my disagreeing, Tanya Shannon disappeared December 5, 2010 and her body not located til a month later January 3, 2011.. Her DOD is December 5, 2010 NOT January 3, 2011 when her body was found..

IMO it strictly depends on multiple variables as to what is determined as a victims DOD.

 

[LMStyle]

I know that you are a local, so this must be terribly hard on you. Are you now leaning at all towards TS being guilty, or do you believe that this was a stranger abduction, or is someone else out there that was close to Katrina that hurt her?

Thanks for the kind words and yes this is terribly hard and extremely sad. With as much time that passed I think we all started to believe she would not be found alive, and even when the body was found and later identified it still hadn't completely sank in. But as soon as I got notice regarding the funeral is when it actually hit me like full on.

I'd like to believe TS would never do such a thing, that he would be able to comprehend and foresee the effects of such actions on himself, her family and his family. If he did, then he will have to accept his fate and face justice. If he did not do it, I doubt it was a stranger abduction, but was someone else she was acquainted with or somehow knew.

I'm just not willing to speculate or assume one specific individual is guilty without proper facts and information. Most of which is being kept private by LE for the time being. All that matters is that whoever is responsible be held accountable as Katrina never deserved this.

 

[StormyNights]

While I have my ideas who is responsible for her death, I will hold onto that until more information comes out. With that being said, I too am curious as to who would get "custody" for lack of a better word, of Katrina's body in a murder investigation. Also, I am wondering how soon her body would be released for burial given that this is a murder investigation ( I am speculating it is anyways) does anyone know that? If say her hubby chose to cremate her, that would destroy any evidence they may of had. I know one would think they would of collect any and all evidence during the ME exam and the autopsy, but it is not unheard of to exhume a body after burial to retrieve more evidence or have a second look. Especially in a murder case IMO. Does anyone know if there are laws or regulations about cremating or burying a murder victim out there? I am just curious about this. TIA

 

[StormyNights]

Thanks for the kind words and yes this is terribly hard and extremely sad. With as much time that passed I think we all started to believe she would not be found alive, and even when the body was found and later identified it still hadn't completely sank in. But as soon as I got notice regarding the funeral is when it actually hit me like full on.

I'd like to believe TS would never do such a thing, that he would be able to comprehend and foresee the effects of such actions on himself, her family and his family. If he did, then he will have to accept his fate and face justice. If he did not do it, I doubt it was a stranger abduction, but was someone else she was acquainted with or somehow knew.

I'm just not willing to speculate or assume one specific individual is guilty without proper facts and information. Most of which is being kept private by LE for the time being. All that matters is that whoever is responsible be held accountable as Katrina never deserved this.

I, too, would like to extend my thoughts to you at this time. I know you are local and close to this case. This must be very hard on you. I also want to you "thank you" for keeping us all as informed as possible on some details on this case. I, like you, hope that whomever is responsible for this terrible tragedy is held accountable and prosecuted to the fullest extent. My thoughts and sympathies are with you.

 

[B4igo2it]

I sure am sad about this ending for Katrina. However, the overwhelming effort from her community to locate her is like nothing I have ever seen. It was so well organized with such a large area searched by so many unselfish and caring individuals. The facebook was well put together keeping everyone abreast of everything that was taking place in such an orderly manner. The prayer vigil and benefit were well planned and supported. The family has shown its endless love and appreciation to everyone and has generously invited all to share in Katrina's celebration of life.

 

[Knox]

Winnebago County detectives are not releasing Katrina&#8217;s cause of death. They think it could hurt the investigation.
http://www.wifr.com/news/headlines/Only-on-23-News-Family-of-Katrina-Smith-Speaks-Out-178750521.html

At least they were able to determine COD. Hopefully there are clues in the manner she was killed, which will point to whoever killed her.

Was there ever any further mention of the bloody paper towels? The test results surely would be back by now. Wondering if they turned out to be related?