Skeletal remains found at a house in Springfield have been identified as those of a woman who vanished in 2008, authorities said.
Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon said a post-mortem examination that included a forensic pathologist and an anthropologist identified the remains as those of Michelle Renee “Shelly” Bianco of Springfield.
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An official cause and manner of death was still pending, Allmon said Tuesday.
Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell said the case is now a death investigation and investigators are “interviewing anybody and everybody connected to the case,” The (Springfield) State Journal-Register reported.
Bianco’s skeletal remains were found Monday at a house in Springfield one day after police were called to the residence about “personal items” found in a crawl space. Campbell said Tuesday those items included a purse with documents with Bianco’s name on them.
Bianco was last seen on April 5, 2008, in the Springfield area. She and her cousin were walking when a man driving a black Pontiac offered Bianco a ride home, police said.
The cousin told police the man called Bianco by her name. A missing persons report was filed for Bianco three days after she disappeared. She would be 59 if she was still alive.
