Charges were pending after a man was arrested Thursday in relation to his wife’s 1980 Coles County cold case murder, police announced in a news release.
Thomas A. Small, 70, was arrested in connection to the murder of his wife, Diane A. Small, and charges were pending through both the Coles and Kankakee counties state’s attorney’s offices, Bradley police said.
Police said they met with Thomas Small Wednesday but did not say what lead up to the meeting. They said Small was a suspect in the case where “a body was located at Air Tight Bridge in rural Coles County.”
The body, which was dismembered, was identified through DNA testing in 1992 as Diane A. Small, Thomas’ wife. Diane Small was considered a missing person in Bradley before her body was indentified. Thomas Small allegedly never reported her as missing, authorities said.
The investigation, led by the Coles County Sheriff’s Office, was assisted by the Bradley Police Department and the Kankakee County Sheriff’s Department.
The Kankakee County state’s attorney’s office says it will ask for no bond and said Small is dangerous.
Small is currently in custody at the Kankakee County Jail and is due in court Monday.
