Mystery lingers in teen death (OC OD), mutilation

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http://www.dailyherald.com/search/main_story.asp?intID=3837270

Mystery lingers in teen death, mutilation
By Tona Kunz Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted 1/20/2005

The death of an 18-year-old Geneva teen and his post-mortem mutilation have police experts squared off against the Kane County coroner.

A forensic anthropologist from the U.S. Department of Defense consulted by the Geneva Police Department said Jacob Zegart's body was mutilated by his pet Rottweiler after he overdosed on the prescription painkiller Oxycontin on Oct. 13 in his bedroom on Northampton Drive.

Family witnessed the dog on top of the body tugging on his boxer shorts.

The dog may have been there, but it was a knife - not teeth - that initially tore the boy's flesh, coroner Chuck West said during an inquest Wednesday.

Using autopsy photos, tissue samples and bite comparisons, seven experts including forensic pathologists, an animal bite expert from the Chicago medical examiner's office, veterinary surgeons and the head of the county animal control department discounted the idea the dog mutilated him.

"An animal has a tendency to grab and pull. It's all pretty jagged," West said. "And this is all pretty smooth."

The difference of opinion motivated Geneva police to call in the FBI to investigate the death. Together, the law enforcement groups have searched the family's home and two cars. Geneva Det. Sgt. Joe Heinrich declined to comment on what evidence officers found or whether the family has been ruled out as suspects.

Details of what happened to the College of DuPage freshman after his death have raised questions about how he died. The coroner's jury couldn't reach a determination Wednesday on whether the death was an accidental overdose, suicide or homicide.

"We know the cause of death is the drugs," West said. "How it got into his system is still unknown. He has a history of drug abuse. He could have taken them himself but that doesn't preclude that he was given them."

Zegart struggled with Oxycontin addiction since August 2003 when, at the prodding of a friend, he stole some of the pills his father used for a disabling back injury, police said. By December when Geneva school officials busted the then-high school senior using drugs in the bathrooms, Zegart admitted he was snorting up to six pills a day.

Shortly after the arrest at school, Zegart started a five-month treatment program, police said. He graduated successfully from the program but continued meeting with counselors and taking twice-weekly drug tests. The tests were always negative, officials said.

The drugs found in Zegart's room match the prescription markings of his father's, but it is unclear how he ingested them.

Kane County First Assistant State's Attorney Clint Hull declined to say whether prosecutors were looking into Zegart's death as a homicide, only that they were still investigating.
 
Did this happen in Lake Geneva? I'm not sure if it is in Kane County but I know I live near a Kane County.
 
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