Maquon jarred by news of human remains found in the storage unit box
MAQUON — On Friday human remains were found in a storage facility in Maquon.
The news was on the minds of locals as the Knox County Scenic Drive passed through the town of about 200 people 17 miles southeast of Galesburg.
"It's quite a shock," Toni Jurgensen said on Saturday.
Jurgensen, 58, has lived about 500 feet from the storage unit for 30 years.
"You wouldn't think it would happen in a small town like Maquon."
Josh Treadway of Maquon echoed those sentiments.
"It's very unusual and not what you expect to go on in a small town because you just see it on TV and it happened in a small town, near me," Treadway said. The 19-year-old Treadway has lived three houses down from the storage units.
Police have not released the identity of the person found or the person who owned the storage unit.
According to a release from the Knox County Sheriff’s Department Saturday morning, the remains were located inside a large box in the storage unit at 105 E. 3rd St. after a complaint of a suspicious odor.
Upon arriving at the storage unit at 6 p.m. Friday, deputies spoke with the storage facility manager at Roberts Self Storage and the owner of the particular storage unit from which the smell was coming. The owner said the smell was coming from an opossum that had died in the unit.
When the owner was asked to open a large box within the unit, the owner advised police there was a body in the box.
Illinois State Police Crime Scene investigations were called to the scene. After a search warrant was obtained, the unit was entered and the box opened. Inside the box was decomposed human remains. Identification was not able to be made on the scene due to the condition of the body.
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The owner of the storage unit was detained and later taken to St. Mary Medical Center in Galesburg for medical reasons. Due to medical reasons, no charges have been filed at this time, the release says. Charges are pending upon results of the investigation.
More details will be released later.
This article originally appeared on Galesburg Register-Mail: Decomposed body found in storage unit in Maquon; identity not public
