The Tazewell County Coroner’s Office is waiting to learn the official identity of the bones recovered last week in South Pekin thought to belong to 13-year-old Robert Bee.
Robert Bee went missing last November after school truant officers visited his home. The circumstances surrounding his disappearance remain murky. His mother Lisa Bee, no longer lives in Illinois.
Tazewell County Coroner Jeff Baldi says they took the shortest possible route to get the DNA conformation necessary for the official ID.
The doctor that did the autopsy last week was able to make a confident, but not certain match with dental records. That could be caused by any dental changes that may have occurred between the last time the child saw the dentist and his disappearance.
Baldi says they are using tooth dentin for the DNA Match. That test can be done at the lab in Morton. Baldi says they were lucky the lab pushed this case to the top of the heap for the most expedited results. That process is typically seven days. On that time schedule, officials will be able to sign the death by Wednesday.