Coroner: Skeletal remains confirmed to be those of Springfield woman missing for 16 years
Experts have identified the skeletal remains of found at a house in the 2100 block of South Grand Avenue East late Monday morning as those of Michelle Renee "Shelly" Bianco, who disappeared from Springfield more than 16 years ago.
Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon confirmed the identity following Tuesday's post-mortem examination which included a forensic pathologist and anthropologist.
An official cause and manner of death is still pending, Allmon said in a news release from his office Tuesday.
More: Here's everything we know about the Michelle Bianco missing persons case in Springfield
Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell said the case now becomes a death investigation.
"We're interviewing anybody and everybody connected to the case," Campbell said.
Bianco, who would have been 59 years old, was last seen alive on April 5, 2008, near South Grand and Wheeler avenues. Bianco and her cousin were walking in the area, when a man driving a black Pontiac offered Bianco a ride to her home in the Lincoln Place Mobile Home Park off Old Route 36.
Bianco had been trying to find a ride for hours, and the cousin told Sangamon County Sheriff's Deputies that the man in the Pontiac called Bianco by her name.
The family contacted Springfield Police the next day about Bianco being missing. A missing persons report was filed on April 8.
On Sunday, Springfield Police were called about "personal items" that were found in the South Grand Avenue house, near where she was last seen. The items were found in a crawl space.
Sangamon County Sheriff's Deputies were later dispatched to the house because it was department's case, Campbell said.
The items, Campbell said Tuesday, included a purse with documents with Bianco's name on them.
Later Monday, the story unfurled even more when Illinois State Police investigators discovered skeletal remains at the house shortly after noon.
An anthropologist from the Illinois State Museum identified the remains as human before Allmon was called to the scene.
Sheriff's deputies have explored a number of leads through the years, and at one point, the family even hired a private investigator, though there was no resolution.
Bianco had four siblings, including a brother, Robert, and a sister Debbie Gardner, who live in Springfield. Another sister, Patricia Noyes, and brother, Butch, both live in Yuma, Arizona.
Bianco's mother, Betty (Davis) Miles, died at age 95 in Springfield on Jan. 18.
Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788; [email protected]; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Remains of missing Springfield woman Michelle Bianco found 16 years later