Bodies found in Pecatonica River identified as missing men from 1976

    Earlier this year on March 11, the Winnebago County Coroner’s Office responded to a call regarding possible human skeletal remains found in a submerged vehicle in the Pecatonica River. It was suspected that the vehicle might be connected to two missing adults from 1976, Clarence Owens and Everett Hawley.

    Recovery efforts, conducted over the following days, involved several local fire department dive teams, the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office, and the Winnebago County Coroner’s Office. In total, over 100 pieces of skeletal remains were retrieved from the river and the vehicle. These remains were subsequently re-associated at the Coroner’s Office, confirming that they belonged to two separate individuals.

    In late March, the skeletal remains were transported to St. Louis, Missouri, where a forensic anthropologist examined them. The forensic analysis, completed in April, identified the remains as those of two adult males. The examination revealed no evidence of trauma.

    The remains were returned to the Winnebago County Coroner’s Office, where two long bones from each male were provided to the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office for further analysis. These bones were submitted to the Illinois State Police, Division of Forensic Services, for DNA testing.

    Over the next several months, DNA extraction and profiling from the bones were completed. Comparison of the DNA profiles with relatives of Owens and Hawley confirmed that the recovered remains were indeed those of Clarence Owens and Everett Hawley.

    The Winnebago County Coroner’s Office and the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office wishes peace and comfort to the families of Clarence Owens and Everett Hawley as they prepare to lay their loved ones to rest. After decades of uncertainty, they are honored to have played a role in bringing closure to both families.

    Winnebago County Sheriff Gary Caruana stated, “This bring us one step closer to providing closure to the families of Clarence Owens and Everett Hawley, who have waited many years for answers that have been affected by this tragic case. This is a testament to the dedication and perseverance of our detectives and forensic experts. It’s a reminder that no case is ever truly closed no matter how much time has passed.”

Backstory on the case

    Freeport residents and business partners Clarence Owens, 65, and Everett Hawley, 75, disappeared 48 years ago along with the 1966 Chevy Impala they were driving.

    It was reported that Hawley and Owens were last seen on Feb. 19, 1976. The pair, a real estate broker/appraiser and a salesman, spent part of the day they went missing at the American Legion in Pecatonica at a rally for former Illinois governor Jim Thompson, who was just a candidate at the time, and afterwards walked across the street to Rocky’s Café. After that, they drove to Owens’s son and daughter-in-law’s house and showed off the paint job on the Chevy Impala he was driving. He had just gotten it painted a metallic gold and wanted to show it off. Their next stop was a nearby farm auction. That auction was the last place they were seen, between 2:40 and 3 p.m. that day, near the county line of Winnebago and Ogle counties before their disappearance.

    Then on March 11 of this year, thanks to an area fisherman, who, through the use of his fishing sonar, located a car submerged in the Pecatonica River near E. First and Washington streets, there was found the remains of what is believed to be the missing men. The car was located and raised by fire protection divers after having been notified by the fisherman.

    After so many years, only bones were left of the men’s bodies. More were also located in the mud of the river bank after the vehicle was retrieved. Almost half a century later, there can now be a little closure to the mystery of what happened to them.

    Around 100 bones or more were found between the car and the riverbank by the conclusion of the majority of the search on March 14.

    Speculation still abounds as to why and how the two men ended up in their car in the river. It is still unknown if foul play was involved or not.

    Editor Amy Cushing and correspondent Margaret Downing contributed to this article.