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BUTLER - Police may have found missing mom
BUTLER - Authorities are investigating whether or not a body found near a Wayne park may be the Butler wife and mother missing since March 20.
Wayne Police Deputy Chief John Reardon hoped that the medical examiner, who was working to determine the identity of the female body found in a wooded area off of Farmingdale Road near Pompton Plains Crossroad on Sunday, would have answers late Tuesday or Wednesday.
Butler Police Capt. Jay Dean said on Tuesday that it could be a few days before authorities learn the identity of the body.
Reardon said that some items were found at the scene that may provide clues to the person’s identity, but police were not releasing information until the medical examiner confirms the identity and the family is notified.
Butler and Wayne police are collaborating on the investigation with prosecutors’ offices in Passaic and Morris counties.
Authorities could not comment on speculation that the body may be identified as Butler resident Stacey Walek, who was reported missing on March 20.
She last saw her family on March 19 when she left for work at a Pompton Plains hair salon. That night she checked into the Regency House Hotel on Route 23 North in Pompton Plains. Employees there were the last to see her the next morning.
The hotel is located down the road from where the body was found, behind A&P supermarket.
Walek, 45, is described as being 5-foot-9 in height and 120 pounds in weight with brown eyes, red hair and a fair complexion.
In the weeks following her disappearance, volunteers canvassed much of the Suburban Trends area, posting and handing out fliers to get Walek’s picture out and make people aware she was missing.
Fliers still hang in stores in Pompton Plains and Wayne near where she disappeared, in Butler where she lived, and in Bloomingdale and West Milford where she grew up and lived before moving to Butler.
Acquaintances and co-workers described Stacey as a selfless person and a devoted wife and mother.
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