Mystery Surrounds Decapitated Body

Man identified as 21-year-old Colin Dalebroux

A lot of unanswered questions remain a day after the headless body of a 21-year-old man was found near a middle school in Evanston.

The body was identified as that of 21-year-old Colin Dalebroux, but police are still not sure how exactly he managed to, apparently, decapitate himself with the explosive device. All they know is that a man walking his dog discovered the headless corpse lying near an unexploded device in a park across from Nichols Middle school early Tuesday.

Evanston police commander Tom Guenther said it was premature to speculate on reports the cause of death was suicide. But he said they are looking for clues in Dalebroux's apartment near Maple Avenue and Main Street, just a few blocks away from the school. It appears that no suicide note or active explosive devices were discovered there.

Guenther said Dalebroux was known to another police agency in the state, but wouldn't identify which one.

Because of the close proximity of the crime scene to Nichols Middle School, classes were canceled on Tuesday and Wednesday as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of children, faculty and staff, according to Evanston district officials.

Neighbors said Dalebroux had lived in his unit only for the past several months, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Peter Wolf told the paper the man was friendly and had a girlfriend.  "They’d smoke out front and talk to me," said Peter Wolf.  "He was nice, and I was a little bit jealous of him, because he was young and had a pretty girlfriend... He didn’t seem the type of person to do something like this."

A Facebook page indicates he was a 2008 graduate of Madison West High School, but that could not immediately be confirmed.
 

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