WILMINGTON, Ill. (TCN) — Two people are charged with desecration of a corpse after the body of a premature baby was found buried at their property.
In a public statement, the Will County Sheriff’s Office announced they received information on Dec. 4 of a possible buried infant. Detectives learned the child’s grave was marked with a makeshift headstone, and they obtained a search warrant to inspect the property.
Upon arrival, detectives and crime scene investigators located the gravesite, marked with a rock, and found the remains of an infant inside of a beer box, wrapped in cloth and a plastic bag and buried in a hole about 36 inches deep.
The Will County Coroner’s Office then took possession of the remains so an autopsy and further testing could be conducted, according to the sheriff’s office.
CBS News reports two suspects, Nicole Pokrzywa, 36, and William Cosmen, 38, were taken into custody, detained, and charged with desecration of a corpse on Dec. 5.
They allegedly made incriminating statements pertaining to concealment of a death during their interviews with detectives, according to the sheriff’s office.
Detectives learned that Pokryzwa had given birth to the child at a home in October 2024 when she was six to eight months pregnant. An autopsy showed that the child weighed between 5 and 7 pounds and was approximately 22 to 27 weeks’ gestation.
WFLD reports the autopsy confirmed the infant was female and further testing is required due to the level of decomposition.
The child was reportedly born in a toilet, and Cosmen allegedly attempted to flush the body down the drain. The body was too large to fit and he allegedly tried to force it with a plunger, CBS reports.
They then allegedly left the body in the toilet overnight and took it to another property the next day to be buried.
People reports it is unclear whether Cosmen is the child’s father.
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