Illinois State Police have taken command of the investigation. It is believed to be a suicide investigation.
Davlin, 53, mayor since 2003, was expected at a probate court hearing this morning concerning the estate of a late cousin. The mayor did not show up in court, according to press reports in Springfield. It is not clear whether police were summoned to his home and found the body or whether a well-being check was made. One report states that police responded to a 9-1-1 emergency call at the mayor's home.
According to a report in The Springfield Journal Register, "The judge overseeing a probate case involving the estate of Springfield Mayor Tim Davlin's cousin this morning removed Davlin as administrator of the estate after he failed to show up for a court hearing.
Davlin has failed to meet a deadline for a financial accounting of the estate. Circuit Judge Pete Cavanagh had ordered Davlin and Bradley Huff, attorney for Catholic Charities of Springfield, to be in his courtroom this week to discuss the accounting and the status of attorneys in the estate of Margaret Ettelbrick, who died in 2003."
Mayor Davlin had been acting as executor of Ettelbrick's estate.
In October, the SJR reported that Davlin owed the federal government nearly $90,000 in unpaid income taxes and liens had been filed against his home. The mayor then blamed the problem on a dispute with the IRS over taxes owed on investments he cashed in to buy the home.
State Police Capt. Jim Wolf confirmed that "Zone 4 ISP investigators have responded out that way and we're in the early stages of the investigation. We are in the very preliminary stages of our investigation, so I'm not going to comment on anything right now."
Authorities in Springfield are preparing to hold an afternoon news conference regarding the mayor's death.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
