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Katrina A. Smith

Online Staff Report  

The body of missing 30-year-old Machesney Park, Ill., woman Katrina A. Smith was found in the Rock River near the intersection of Route 2 and Townline Road, south of Byron, Ill., Friday, Nov. 9.   

The body was found around 1 p.m., Friday, Nov. 9. The Ogle County Coroner’s Office identified the body as Katrina Smith’s via dental records Nov. 10. A cause of death has yet to be determined. Rescuers who recovered the body said there were no immediate signs of trauma, and the body, which was covered in weeds and algae, had already begun to decompose.   

Katrina Smith was last seen by her husband, Todd Smith, 45, at about 9 p.m., Monday, Oct. 22, at their Machesney Park residence at 8239 Tetterhall Lane.  

Detectives have determined Katrina Smith was shopping at department stores in the area of North Second Street and Illinois Route 173 in Machesney Park between 7 and 8 p.m., Monday night, Oct. 22. She then reportedly returned to her residence in Machesney Park, and left around 9 p.m. to run additional errands.  

Katrina Smith’s vehicle was found abandoned at Obispo and Ventura in Machesney Park at approximately 7:50 p.m., Oct. 23. Neighbors reported seeing the vehicle parked at that location earlier in the day, unoccupied.  

Katrina Smith’s purse was recovered Wednesday, Oct. 24, a short distance from where the vehicle was located.  

During a search conducted by family and friends Oct. 26, paper towels were recovered with a substance believed to be blood on them. These items were recovered in a field between Obispo and Ralston Road. Tests will need to be conducted to determine whether the blood belongs to Katrina Smith.  

Katrina Smith’s cell phone was recovered in the 700 block of Ralston Thursday, Oct. 25.  

Also Thursday, Oct. 25, Katrina Smith’s wallet was turned over to the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department. The wallet had been recovered by a citizen in the roadway of a Rockford street and turned in to a business as found property. Once it was determined the wallet was Katrina Smith’s, the business called the Rockford Police Department, which contacted the Sheriff’s Department. At this point, it is unknown if anything is missing from the wallet.  

Tuesday, Oct. 30, police obtained a search warrant and searched the Smith residence on Tetterhall Lane.  

A benefit fund-raiser was held in Katrina Smith’s honor Nov. 8 at Casey’s Pub in Loves Park, Ill. An account has been established at Riverside Community Bank, and donations can be made at any of the bank’s locations to the “Katrina Smith Fund.” A Facebook page, “findkatrinasmith,” has also been established.  

Katrina Smith worked in the Human Resources Department at Camryn Company in Belvidere, Ill. Although the Smiths’ residence is in Machesney Park, Katrina Smith had recently been staying in Roscoe, Ill. The couple has no children.  

Anyone with information about Katrina Smith’s disappearance is asked to call the Sheriff’s Department at (815) 319-6400 or Crime Stoppers at (815) 963-7867.  

Posted Nov. 9, 2012