Authorities ordered to return Craig Stebic's truck
His seized firearms, ammunition will be given to his friend
By Erika Slife | Chicago Tribune reporter
10:53 PM CDT, September 5, 2008
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-stebic_both_06sep06,0,71669.storyCraig Stebic scored a legal victory Friday when a Will County judge ordered Plainfield police to return the truck they seized from him last year in their investigation into the disappearance of his wife, Lisa.
Judge Richard Schoenstedt also ruled that Stebic's weapons could be turned over to his friend, Marco Aguilera Jr., whose father works with Stebic.
Stebic's firearm owner's identification card was revoked by Illinois State Police. Schoenstedt previously had said Stebic's 24 guns and ammunition could be retrieved by someone with a gun card, and he ordered them returned Monday.
"We're happy he got the guns back and the truck back," said Stebic's attorney, George Lenard, after the hearing. Stebic's belongings were seized by police as possible evidence shortly after his wife vanished from their Plainfield home on April 30, 2007. Plainfield police named Stebic a "person of interest" in her disappearance. The couple had begun divorce proceedings, and the day she disappeared she mailed her lawyer a petition to have her husband evicted from their home.
Stebic has not been charged and maintains that he is innocent.
Authorities said Lisa Stebic's investigation remains their top priority.
"We've thoroughly examined everything that's being returned," said Detective Sgt. Troy Kivisto. "We obviously can't hold his stuff hostage."
Stebic faces an ongoing legal battle with his wife's parents and grandparents, who are seeking visitation rights with the couple's two children, ages 12 and 13.
Although an interim agreement had been reached earlier this summer, the attorney for Lisa's parents, Lawrence and Judith Ruttenberg, and her grandparents, Milton and Charlotte Ruttenberg, said Friday there had been only one visit this summer.
"It did not go well," their attorney, Timothy Daw, told Judge Robert Brumund at a status hearing.
eslife@tribune.com
