Now, there has a major break in the investigation into who that boy was and what may have happened to him.
According to the Chicago Tribune, investigators have identified the boy found stuffed in a laundry bag along a roadside near Interstate 88 between Naperville and Warrenville.
A sheriff's spokesperson would not confirm or deny the Tribune's story.
No one ever came forward and there were no family members claiming to know who the boy was. The Tribune is reporting that state and federal records identify the boy as a 2-year-old named Atcel. A last name was not revealed. His DNA has been matched to siblings in foster care.
The identity was revealed after the boy's sister told a social worker that their stepfather beat her and kicked her with steel work boots and killed her brother Atcel.
The little girl apparently told authorities in April of 2008, but DuPage County officials did not disclose the information because the suspect, the 36-year-old stepfather, fled to Mexico City with the children's mother, who is also wanted for questioning. Authorities say they were afraid the publicity would interfere with the investigation.
Law enforcement and community members held a funeral without any family members present. He was buried in Assumption Cemetery in Wheaton, Ill., with no clue as to his identity. Still throughout the years, people would come to visit. His grave says "unknown but not forgotten."
"We get people every once in while inquiring about him and we show them where the head done is at and everything," said Thadeus Augelli, Assumption Cemetery.
Ted Bruder found the boy's remains on October 8, 2005 when he was walking his dog in Warrenville. The dog led him to a laundry bag near a ditch with a badly decomposed body inside.
"First thing I felt was a lot of chills when I heard about it. Just glad that finally found...the boy had a name to him and knew who he was," said Bruder.
Bruder says identifying Atcel is just the first step.
"It's a relief. It's not quite complete closure yet. The closure will be when the person is brought to justice and put in prison."
According to published reports, Atcel's sister and other siblings have been in foster care for years after reporting they suffered abuse.
