Timeline: Stacy Peterson's last days seen alive
The Illinois State Police reportedly lost possession of sensitive documents from the case file of missing mom Stacy Peterson. Included in these documents, according to reports, was a timeline of the last day Stacy was seen alive, and the immediate aftermath of her disappearance.
Here is the timeline created by author and Herald News reporter Joe Hosey, based on his articles for the newspaper and his true crime sensation, "Fatal Vows: The Tragic Wives of Sergeant Drew Peterson."
All times are approximate.
3 to 4 a.m.: Bolingbrook police Sgt. Drew Peterson skipped out of his shift early, by his own admission, and returned home. He joined his sleeping wife in bed.
9 a.m.: Peterson's children woke him up. Peterson said he "believes" his wife Stacy was still in the house, but due to his sleepy state, did not fully trust his memory. Peterson did recollect his wife telling him she was leaving to help Bruce Zidarich, a friend of her sister, Cassandra Cales, paint the home of her brother, Yelton Cales, in Yorkville.
10:15 a.m.: Zidarich spoke on the phone with Stacy, for what turns out to be the last time. He said she sounded "depressed" and told him she had been lounging in bed. Stacy never showed up to paint.
11:55 a.m.: The Petersons' next-door-neighbor, Sharon Bychowski, said she called the Peterson home to offer the children some lollipops she had bought. Peterson's then-13 year old son Kristopher answered. Bychowski said Kristopher sounded disoriented and stumbled on his words. Peterson then took the phone, she said, and told her Stacy went to visit her grandfather and to run some errands.
1:15 p.m.: Peterson took three of his children, Kristopher, Anthony, then 4, and Lacy, then 2, over to Bychowski's house and asked her to watch them.
1:30 p.m.: Peterson returned and collects his children.
2 p.m.: Bychowski called Stacy's cell phone. The call went straight to voice mail. Bychowski found this highly unusual.
2:30 p.m.: Peterson called in sick from his shift that evening.
7 p.m.: Drew Peterson picked up his stepbrother, Thomas Morphey, from his home a few minutes away and headed to a Bolingbrook Starbucks. Peterson related to Morphey that he is having problems with his much younger fourth wife, Stacy, and asks for Morphey's help. Peterson drove Morphey to a nearby park, gave him his cell phone and left him there.
7:45 p.m.: Peterson's cell phone, left in Morphey's possession, rang. It showed Stacy's name on the caller ID. A second call came in soon after in the same manner.
8:30 p.m.: Peterson returned to the park, picked up Morphey and headed to the Peterson home.
8:40 p.m.: Morphey and Peterson carried a blue barrel downstairs from the master bedroom to the driveway and Peterson's Yukon Denali.
8:50 p.m.: Peterson dropped Morphey at his home.
9 p.m.: Peterson claimed Stacy called his cell phone to inform him she met another man and has abandoned her family.
10 p.m.: Morphey walked down the street to his friend Walter Martineck's house. He told Martineck he believes he helped dispose of Stacy Peterson's body.
11 p.m.: Cassandra Cales drove to the Peterson house. She found the driveway empty of vehicles. Cales spoke with Kristopher, who told her Peterson and Stacy fought, Stacy has left, and his father is out looking for her.
11:15 p.m.: Cales called Peterson's cell phone from the parking lot of a department store near the Peterson home. Cales said Peterson sounded out of breath and told her he was at his home. Cales said she had been outside his house shortly before she made the call and Peterson was nowhere to be found.
11:40 p.m.: Cales went to the Downers Grove Police Department to seek advice. She was sent to the Bolingbrook Police Department.
Midnight: Cales went to the Bolingbrook Police Department to report her sister missing.
2:30 a.m.: Cales drove by the Peterson home again and saw both the Denali and Stacy's Pontiac Grand Prix in the driveway.
4 a.m.: Cales went to the state police District 5 headquarters in Lockport and reported her sister missing again. Later that morning, the state police took over the investigation from the Bolingbrook police.