Body found near Joliet was that of Manhattan woman, 21

JOLIET TOWNSHIP – The body found about 6 p.m. Friday in the 1500 block of California Avenue has been identified as that of
Marissa L. Koziel, 21, formerly of Manhattan.

Three youths found a body Friday evening and called 911, police said. Investigators identified Koziel as the woman found Friday, according to a news release by the Will County Sheriff's Office. She was pronounced dead at
8:15 p.m.

The Will County Coroner reported the death is being investigated as a homicide. Investigators have not announced any suspects in the case yet.

“Our detectives have been pretty much working nonstop since Marissa was discovered,” Deputy Chief Dan Jungles said of the Will County Sheriff’s Office. “They’re following up on quite a few different leads.”

Koziel was reported missing by family members to the Manhattan Police Department on Feb. 14, and she was last seen by family members on Feb. 1, 2018, according to a news release. A post on the Missing Person Awareness Network Facebook page had information on Koziel missing, including that she was last seen at the Rodeway Inn at 1730 McDonough St. in Joliet. Jungles declined to comment on whether that was true, or where investigators knew her to have last been seen.

An autopsy was conducted by the Will County Coroner’s Office and preliminary reports show Koziel died of a single gunshot wound, although Jungles declined to comment on where she was shot.

The release also described Koziel as being formerly from Manhattan, but Jungles added that she did not have a permanent address for a period of time, although he said he did not know for how long.

“She had been staying at hotels in the area for a while,” Jungles said.

The youths who reported the body were teenagers, Jungles said.

“I think they were just walking in the neighborhood,” he said of the three juveniles who made the discovery on California north of Rosalind Street, just outside the Joliet city limits.

Jungles said the body was found about 6 p.m. The subject was lying face down, unresponsive and cold to the touch, according to the release.

Will County Sheriff’s personnel contacted deputies in Crime Scene Investigation and Detectives in Will County Investigations. Deputies secured the area near the body and shut down surrounding roads while they conducted the investigation. Initially, a source said the body was that of a child.

“I can’t confirm that because no one has told me that,” Jungles said, who explained on Friday night that the body was wrapped in an unspecified material and positioned in such a way that the person’s age could not be determined.

A source said the body was covered with a rug. Koziel was 5 feet tall and weighed 95 pounds, according to county records.

Shortly after 6:30 p.m. Friday, Jungles said the body had not been moved or even touched by investigators.

Will County Sheriff’s officers still had the scene taped off Saturday morning. Nearby residents said that students usually walk to and from a nearby school, Forest Park Individual Education School, located at 1220 California St. just down the road from the crime scene, but Jungles said the youths who reported the dead body were teenagers and were not walking from the school.

One resident who said he’s lived in the neighborhood for many years said he had never seen anything like Friday’s death.

Crime Scene Investigators and detectives were processing the scene and were following up with potential leads.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the Will County Sheriff’s Office Investigation Division at 815-727-8574.