Melissa Grilli identified as Chicago woman found dead in alley, bound by arms & legs. Cause and manner of death pending autopsy in death investigation.
Chicago authorities have identified the woman whose partially clothed body was found bound and tied up in an alley by her arms and legs over the weekend.
Melissa D. Grilli, 34, from the 1800 block South Gunderson Avenue, Berwyn, suburb of Romeoville was identified as the lifeless woman found on Sunday.
Notice of the macabre discovery came after a an anonymous caller dialed 911 circa 8:30 a.m. Sunday to report a body was in an alley in the 2600 block of West Gladys Avenue, according to police spokeswoman, Kellie Bartoli, the chicagotribune reported.
Following an autopsy Monday, the Cook County medical examiner’s office marked her cause and manner of death as pending further investigation.
The body ‘was found tied up from her legs, arms and wrists,’ Bartoli wrote in an email. The woman was bound across her thighs with a tied cloth rope and her wrists were bound with clothing, according a preliminary police report.
Case treated as a death investigation
More clothing and rope were tied around the woman’s body the report noted.
Bartoli said the case is being treated as a death investigation.
She said the caller found the woman’s body after going into the alley to throw out garbage. The preliminary report said her body was found in a remote area behind some homes and near the Eisenhower Expressway.
The report said there was a blanket over the woman and she was not fully clothed.
There were no obvious signs of physical injury, the report said. There was a smell of bleach coming from the woman’s body, according to the preliminary report.
Police did not answer questions about the woman’s description, or if she matched the description of anyone previously reported missing.
Not immediately clear is how the woman came to end up being ‘dumped’ in the alley and who placed her there and their possible involvement in the woman’s cause of death.
