There is a man under arrest, but not for the Lane Bryant murders, and he is not in the custody of Tinley Park Police or the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force. The man is a parolee with a history of armed robbery who bears some resemblance to the suspect in the Lane Bryant murders. And for that reason, investigators tell ABC7, they will talk to him, but they are not ready to label the man a suspect.
The man police are talking to represents one lead among many. The US Marshal's Fugitive Task Force arrested him in Chicago Tuesday night on a parole violation. Those who have seen the man say he bears a passing resemblance to the composite sketch of the Lane Bryant killer. Tinley Park Police downplay the development, saying, "There have been recent media reports that a suspect is in custody...this information is incorrect. No one has been arrested, nor do we have suspects at this time."
Late Wednesday morning, a source close to the case told ABC7 that investigators have not found anything concrete to connect the man they are questioning to the murders of five women at the store a week and a half ago. Since then, the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force has received hundreds of tips and questioned countless people.
A fresh round of leads has come in since the sketch of the suspect went up on billboards across Chicago earlier this week. Within the last week and a half, investigators in Tinley Park have interviewed a number of people, and some may have been taken briefly into police custody, but none of them has been labeled a suspect. Typically it doesn't make it onto the news. Police are downplaying this latest development, following this lead as they are many others.
Those men included a man who police picked up Monday in Chicago at a bar on the South Side. He was African American, heavyset and wore his hair in corn rows. Apparently the similarities to the suspect ended there. Police cut him loose after an hour or two of questioning. Police say they have an obligation to follow any and every lead whether it's based on appearance or hard evidence. The first lawsuit to come of this case may be in the works. The family of murder victim Connie Woolfolk went to court Wednesday to file a motion to seek the protection of certain evidence in this case, which often signals the makings of a potential lawsuit. The potential defendant is not yet clear.