Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office opens death investigation into Michelle Bianco
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — After law enforcement found skeletal remains in a Springfield house, a cold case has been upgraded into a death investigation.
The Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office is taking the lead on investigating after County Coroner Jim Allmon confirmed human remains found at a house near East South Grand and South Wheeler Avenue belonged to Michelle Bianco, a Springfield woman reported missing on April 8, 2008.
Skeletal remains found in Springfield identified, linked to cold case
The current resident found a purse with an ID for Michelle Bianco in a crawlspace while doing remodeling on Sunday. He contacted law enforcement, as he was familiar with the missing person case.
On Monday, State Police started forensic processing at the scene and reported skeletal remains, which were confirmed to be human by an Illinois State Museum anthropologist. On Tuesday, Allmon announced he was able to confirm the remains belonged to Bianco.
“Talking to the family, they realized, you know, when this was starting to unfold, that there was a really good possibility that this was their loved one,” Allmon said.
Expert forensic pathologists are being brought in to investigate the cause of death. Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell said it’s “unclear” whether they will be able to determine a cause of death.
“In situations where you’re left with the skeletal remains and no soft tissue, it is difficult sometimes to ascertain to what transpired,” Allmon said.
In the meantime, Campbell said he will be interviewing people close to Bianco before she disappeared.
“We’ll begin interviewing people again, probably re-interviewing people in the past that were interviewed, and see if there’s something else they remember, seems there’s other you know, tidbits of information we can gather from them,” he said.
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