Workers find human remains at restaurant
Anne Warfield
Workers find remains at restaurant
Former owner vanished in '98
By Amanda Vogt
Tribune staff reporter
Published April 24, 2003
Workers repairing the roof of a Morton Grove restaurant Wednesday
morning discovered what appeared to be human remains, police said.
The owner of a restaurant at that location disappeared five years ago,
and police at the time said they suspected foul play. He never
resurfaced.
Morton Grove police declined to say Wednesday night whether there was
a connection between the remains and the 1998 missing person case.
But the wife of the missing restaurateur, Enrico Martin Silva, arrived
at the scene late Wednesday with Silva's half-brother.
"At this point it would almost be a relief," Amelia Maldonado said.
"We've been waiting five years to find out what happened to him."
Half-brother Fernando Barron said, "We're pretty much ready for
whatever happens."
Workers found the remains about 9:45 a.m. Wednesday at El Sol
restaurant, 6000 Dempster St., police said.
Authorities were not releasing any other information about what was
found or where it was found.
Morton Grove was investigating the case with the North Regional Major
Crimes Task Force.
Task force vehicles remained late Wednesday in the roped-off alley
behind the restaurant, and investigators were still going over the
roof.
The restaurant remained closed Wednesday.
In August 1998, Morton Grove police were searching for Silva, the
52-year-old owner of La Bamba, a Mexican restaurant at that address.
Silva, of the 8100 block of Knox Avenue, Skokie, was last seen leaving
La Bamba after closing about 11:30 p.m. on Aug. 28, 1998. He
apparently never reached his car, police said, because it was in the
parking lot. The next morning, his keys were found near the car, his
wife said.
Police said then they suspected foul play. They declined at the time
to discuss whether they had suspects.
Robert Katzman, owner of Magazine Memories, in the building adjoining
El Sol, said Wednesday that blood was found in a Dumpster after Silva
disappeared.
He said workers had been on the roof previously trying to repair a
leak above Magazine Memories. Maldonado said she recalled that for
about four months investigators had torn up the place, including the
roof, searching for clues in 1998.
On Wednesday police wanted anyone with information to call
847-853-7580.
Copyright © 2003, Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0304240360apr24,1,1090773.story?coll=chi%2Dnews%2Dhed
--
Anne Warfield
indigoace at goodsol period com
http://www.goodsol.com/cats/
Anne Warfield
Grisly find rekindles probe
Restaurateur missing 5 years
By Amanda Vogt and John Keilman
Tribune staff reporters
Published April 25, 2003
A Tupperware container, a shattered chunk of concrete and the macabre
discovery of a human hand in Morton Grove sparked a police
investigation and revived questions about a restaurateur who has been
missing since 1998.
Morton Grove police issued a statement Thursday stating they do not
know whether human remains found Wednesday on the roof of El Sol
Restaurant are those of Enrico Martin Silva, who disappeared nearly
five years ago.
As those who knew Silva waited and wondered, they spoke of a man who
had endearing qualities but also his share of troubles.
Lucy Silva, his ex-wife, was critical of the initial investigation.
"I don't understand how this wasn't discovered," she said. "They
should have torn apart that roof. It was right under their nose the
whole time."
Warner Nelson, who maintained the restaurant's roof since 1990, said
he had been waiting to repair a leak over the kitchen area for several
years but did not get the go-ahead from the landlord until Tuesday.
As he and his men worked early Wednesday on the roof at 6000 W.
Dempster St., Nelson noticed a series of misaligned shingles where the
facade meets the original roof. When a worker peeled away the
shingles, a piece of plywood popped off, he said.
Beneath the wood was a sheet of plastic that covered several blue
recycling containers, duct-taped shut, Nelson said. Most of the bins
were filled with concrete.
One bin held a yellow Tupperware container also filled with concrete,
he said.
Nelson tossed the container off the roof. When it hit the concrete in
the alley below, it broke open, revealing a clenched human hand.
"It was pretty gross," said Nelson, who immediately called police. "It
was a fluke that we found it. Whoever put it there worked hard to make
sure it would never be found.
"The area where this stuff was, it was hidden pretty well. Somebody
had to know that space was there."
The Cook County medical examiner's office was doing an autopsy
Thursday afternoon but did not release any results. A source close to
the investigation said freeing the remains from the cement would be a
painstaking task.
Silva, of the 8100 block of Knox Avenue in Skokie, was last seen
leaving the restaurant, then called La Bamba, after closing about
11:30 p.m. Aug. 27, 1998. He apparently never reached his Volkswagen,
police said, because it remained in the parking lot.
The next morning, Silva's keys were found near the car, said Amelia
Maldonado, who ran the restaurant with Silva and lived with him for
many years.
Maldonado said nothing was stolen from the restaurant that night.
Robert Katzman, owner of Magazine Memories in the building adjoining
El Sol, said blood was found near Silva's vehicle.
Morton Grove police would not comment on whether the blood was
Silva's.
Police said at the time that they suspected foul play.
Silva had tended to live beyond his means, associates and court
records indicate. In 1993 he filed for bankruptcy. Silva owed more
than $90,000 to creditors, of which $56,000 was tax debt owed to the
federal government, according to federal bankruptcy records.
Silva made monthly payments until his disappearance, records
indicated.
Silva also was behind on business-related expenses.
In November 1997, Silva rented a hall from Ron Wojciechowski in
Delavan, Wis., bringing in Mexican bands to cater to the area's
Hispanic population. He planned to open a restaurant there as well,
and business appeared strong for a few months until the rent checks
started bouncing, Wojciechowski said.
Eventually, Silva owed him almost $7,000, Wojciechowski said. They
reached an agreement in which Silva was supposed to repay the debt by
Sept. 1, 1998. But Silva disappeared a few days before the deadline.
Wojciechowski said he tried to recover the debt, but that other
properties Silva claimed to own were actually in the names of others.
Despite their financial dealings, Wojciechowski recalled Silva as "a
likable fellow," always polite and dressed in a suit and tie. Nothing
sinister happened around his club, Wojciechowski said.
"I've never seen anybody that I would think would hurt him or damage
any of the property," he said.
Lucy Silva, who was married to Enrico from 1975 to 1982, described him
as a kind man and good father. She said she did not know of anyone who
would want to hurt him.
"He didn't always live at home during our marriage, but he was always
there for our son," she said.
Copyright © 2003, Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0304250163apr25,1,2139352.story?coll=chi%2Dnews%2Dhed
Jagdeep Cruellruby
"Anne Warfield" <indi...@aolxxx.com> wrote in message
news:3eaa9e0b...@news.earthlink.net...
Thx Anne, and Anneinchicago too. Some crim sure had a busy night 5
yrs ago. The dismemberment must have been done in the restaurant??
Eww. I wonder if finding the body - finding it *there*, in pieces
like that, will help apprehend who did it. Whoever it was must have
felt pretty comfortable taking the time to do all that right there,
and knew where to hide it. Wonder if he owed the restaurant owner
money. I wonder about the Maldonado woman he ran the place and lived
with? Did she get real mad at him that last night??? And how strong
and agile would a person had to have been to have gotten the
concrete-filled containers up there I wonder?
JC
Annie
I can't imagine why the killer would have gone to all that trouble to
hide the body. Why not just kill him and throw him in the dumpster?
Cutting him up, mixing concrete, filling the tupperware, climbing a
ladder.... That's a lot of work.
Annie
Anne Warfield
<jonesi...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>Thx Anne, and Anneinchicago too. Some crim sure had a busy night 5
>yrs ago. The dismemberment must have been done in the restaurant??
>Eww. I wonder if finding the body - finding it *there*, in pieces
>like that, will help apprehend who did it. Whoever it was must have
>felt pretty comfortable taking the time to do all that right there,
>and knew where to hide it. Wonder if he owed the restaurant owner
>money. I wonder about the Maldonado woman he ran the place and lived
>with? Did she get real mad at him that last night??? And how strong
>and agile would a person had to have been to have gotten the
>concrete-filled containers up there I wonder?
>
>JC
You're right, this was a very physical crime--dismembering the body,
putting it in concrete and Tupperware (so it wouldn't smell, I
presume, and as no one apparently reported a bad odor in the
restaurant, it seems to have worked!), putting it in the roof. I
hadn't thought about the dismemberment taking place in the restaurant,
but it is the logical place.
Urgh. Whodunnit? I'm not getting any vibes yet, but I think my
vibe-o-meter's defective.
Anne Warfield
wrote:
Fairly successful work, though, since the body was undiscovered for so
long. I think JC's right, that the dismemberment & concrete-mixing
took place in the restaurant, otherwise why not throw it all in Lake
Michigan or something?
Good Earth
> On Sat, 26 Apr 2003 02:29:31 -0700 (PDT), adow...@webtv.net (Annie)
> wrote:
>
> >Thanks for posting this, Anne.
> >I can't imagine why the killer would have gone to all that trouble to
> >hide the body. Why not just kill him and throw him in the dumpster?
> >Cutting him up, mixing concrete, filling the tupperware, climbing a
> >ladder.... That's a lot of work.
> > Annie
>
> Fairly successful work, though, since the body was undiscovered for so
> long. I think JC's right, that the dismemberment & concrete-mixing
> took place in the restaurant, otherwise why not throw it all in Lake
> Michigan or something?
I thought it was interesting that they wanted to fix the leak in the
roof for years, but the landlord wouldn't give them the okay to do so
until just recently. Would the landlord have something to do with it?
They didn't say if it was the SAME landlord up until recently.
Good Earth
Jagdeep Cruellruby
> You're right, this was a very physical crime--dismembering the
body,
> putting it in concrete and Tupperware (so it wouldn't smell, I
> presume, and as no one apparently reported a bad odor in the
> restaurant, it seems to have worked!), putting it in the roof. I
> hadn't thought about the dismemberment taking place in the
restaurant,
> but it is the logical place.
>
> Urgh. Whodunnit? I'm not getting any vibes yet, but I think my
> vibe-o-meter's defective.
>
> --
> Anne Warfield
> indigoace at goodsol period com
> http://www.goodsol.com/cats/
Odor - that's the other thing I wondered about. How could there
possibly have been no odor, even with the concrete and tupperware?
The gasses and stuff still have to escape and stuff. Wonder if the
restaurant started burning lots of new candles around the joint
about then. Seriously.
JC
Anne Warfield
Ooo, good catch!