Was Missing Person Wendy Gessing Really At Motel 6 In Joliet?

JOLIET, IL — Wendy Gessing has remained missing from Crest Hill since June 12. One of the key questions in the three-week-long missing person probe takes the investigation out of Crest Hill and over to the Motel 6 off the Interstate 80 exit for Larkin Avenue.

On Friday, the Motel 6 had several Wendy Gessing missing person posters prominently displayed throughout its property. One of the posters states: "Multiple people saw her at the Motel 6 in Joliet at McDonough Street and Larkin Avenue."

But was Gessing actually at the Motel 6?

That remains a key question investigators with the Crest Hill Police Department and members of the Will County Sheriff's Department are trying to determine.

On Friday afternoon, Joliet Patch's editor visited the Motel 6 and interviewed one of the managers, who was extremely helpful, but asked that his name not be used.

The manager told Patch he believes the Crest Hill police are doing an excellent job in trying to find Gessing, the 50-year-old woman who worked at the Pizzas By Marchelloni restaurant facing Raynor Avenue that is owned by her long-time boyfriend.

The Joliet Motel 6 manager said that Crest Hill police and members of the Will County Sheriff's Office were at Motel 6 for several hours during the past two days.

"They have been here for more than two hours today," the Motel 6 manager told Joliet Patch on Friday. "Yesterday (Thursday) all day. They are trained, and they are doing their best."

He said the police have concentrated on reviewing the Motel 6's video surveillance cameras as they try to corroborate with 100 percent certainty whether Gessing was actually at the Motel 6, as some people suggested, or whether it's possible that the tipsters were mistaken.

Patch has previously reported that Gessing's gray Honda CRV was found abandoned in the 400 block of Joliet's Buell Avenue and that Gessing's cell phone was discovered in the village of Romeoville, near Taylor Road, several days after police found her car.

Patch asked the Joliet Motel 6 manager what the police investigators are trying to learn from his business?

"Video and the people who were staying at Rooms 143, 148 and 147," he replied.

The manager said the outside video cameras for the Motel 6 property captured images of a woman thought to be Gessing over a three-day period, June 14-16. The manager said he has watched the video, and he can't say with certainty that it is her.

"We are not sure," he told Patch. "Maybe that's the girl, maybe."

The Motel 6 manager said he is positive that Gessing has never checked into the Motel 6 on McDonough Street as a guest.

The manager also said he does not recognize her as being someone he has encountered on the Motel 6 property in recent history.

The video footage being investigated by Crest Hill, according to the manager, "it's very far from the camera. It's outside and at night."

In the meantime, the Motel 6 in Joliet continues to collect business cards from people who are actively investigating Gessing's disappearance.

So far, the motel manager has two business cards from Crest Hill Police Investigator Joel Steen, one business card from Joliet Police Detective David Szymanski and one business card from Lizzie Athern, project assistant with the Will County Office of Substance Use Initiatives on Glenwood Avenue in Joliet.

The manager recalled being given Athern's business card a couple of weeks ago, but he has not seen her back since the first week of the missing persons investigation.

The Motel 6 manager said it was his understanding that the police also went and obtained video surveillance cameras from the 7-Eleven across the street on Larkin Avenue, as well as the Budget Inn on McDonough Street that is next door to Motel 6.

Joliet Patch visited the Crest Hill police station on Friday seeking an update on Gessing's case from Police Chief Ed Clark, but he was not available, according to staff. During Wednesday's interview, Clark said that his agency had enlisted the FBI, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Will County Sheriff's Office to help with the missing person's investigation.

The chief has not disclosed the specific roles each of those outside agencies are providing to Crest Hill.