A central Illinois man has been charged with murder and sexual assault in connection with the slaying of a Harvey woman who was found dead in 2020 at a south suburban forest preserve.
Vanessa Ceja Ramirez, 22, was found Nov. 4, 2020, at the Midlothian Meadows Forest Preserve — two days after she was reported missing after she went there for a walk, the Cook County sheriff’s office said.
Her body had been partially burned, and there was evidence of sexual assault and strangulation, the sheriff’s office said.
DNA found at the scene connected investigators to Dakota Petrey, 30, of Lewistown. At the time of the incident, Petrey lived at an Oak Forest apartment where Ramirez’s phone had pinged shortly after she was reported missing, but there was no indication that Petrey and Ramirez knew each other, police said.
Petrey was arrested Saturday after he was released from custody in another case in downstate Fulton County, police said.
In Cook County, he faces one felony count each of first-degree murder and aggravated criminal sexual assault.
A judge ordered him held in jail while he awaits trial.