A father-of-five pastor has been found dead in his car submerged in the Des Plaines River near Chicago one week after he vanished without a trace.
And now, a fellow pastor is claiming that it could be foul play.
Warren Beard, 53, who was an assistant pastor at New Israelite Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago, was last seen on July 2 when he went to Joliet, Illinois, to visit friends.
He failed to return home that night and didn’t show up to work with the Preservation of Affordable Housing Wednesday morning.
His wife Wanda said, prior to his body being found, that it was unlike him not to come home.
“My husband goes to work. He comes home, he goes to work out and he goes to church. For the most part, that’s… that’s what he does,” she told Fox32.
“To not come home, he’s never done that in all the years. We’ve been married 16 years.”
Beard’s Aunt, Theresa Boss-French, also told NBC Chicago: “We are all hurting right now. We all know Reverend Warren Beard is not someone who would just disappear without saying a word to his family.”
The family said that Beard, a married father-of-five and a beloved member of his church community, often visited Joliet because he had friends in the area.
On Tuesday, Rockdale officials revealed at a press conference that Beard had been found dead.
The 53-year-old’s body was located in the front seat of his car underwater just after 2.45pm that afternoon, just hours after officials discovered video footage of the car entering the Des Plaines River around 150 yards West of Brandon Road in Rockdale.
The Rockdale Fire Protection District said in a statement it had been contacted by the Brandon Road Lock Master shortly before noon after reviewing security footage from a week earlier.
The footage showed a vehicle going into the water at around 10.47pm on July 2.
According to authorities, the footage shows the vehicle going around a barricade and through a 5.5-foot gap beneath a raised drawbridge before entering the river.
“It was small enough, a small enough of a vehicle to make it under the bridge at the road in the bridge into the river,” said Rockdale Police Department Chief Robert Bake.
The vehicle was located and was found using sonar.
The Will County Coroner’s Office confirmed in a press release that Beard was pronounced dead at 6.20pm.
An autopsy was set to be performed on Wednesday to determine cause and manner of death.
New Israelite Missionary Baptist Church Pastor Chenier Alston, who served with Beard at the church on Chicago’s South Side for 18 years, has insisted that Beard was not suicidal and has theorized that foul play could be involved.
At a press conference, Alston said: “What I want answered is, Who did this?”
“The fact that his car launched off that bridge, [there] were barricades there that had to be driven around,” he said, Church Leaders reported.
“And we know how passionate he was about his job, his wife, his children, so we just want answers. And whatever those answers are, we are going to get justice for him.”
He added: “This is not like him. He would not abandon his family and not come home.”
"He was the greatest person, one of the greatest men I’ve ever met in my life, and this is painful," Alston told WLS . "We want answers. Words can’t even begin to describe how we feel."
The Illinois State Police continues to investigate the incident.
If you are experiencing feelings of distress and isolation, or are struggling to cope, The Samaritans offers support; you can speak to someone for free over the phone, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org , or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call National Suicide Prevention Helpline on 1-800-273-TALK (8255). The Helpline is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.
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