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Katrina A. Smith

Online Staff Report

Katrina A. Smith, the Machesney Park, Ill., woman who was missing for nearly three weeks before her body was found in the Rock River near Byron, Ill., Nov. 9, died as a result of blunt force trauma, according to the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department.

The sheriff’s department is classifying the case as a homicide investigation. Anyone with information about the investigation is asked to call the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department at (815) 319-6400 or Rockford Area Crime Stoppers at (815) 963-7867.

Memorial services for Katrina A. Smith will be Friday and Saturday, Nov. 16-17. Visitation will be from 5 to 9 p.m., Friday, Nov. 16, and 10 to 11 a.m., Saturday, Nov. 17, with funeral at 11 a.m., Saturday — all at Heartland Community Church, 1280 S. Alpine Road, Rockford. Her final resting place will be Arlington Cemetery on Charles Street.

For information about where to send flowers and condolences, visit the Grace Funeral Services website at www.gracefh.com ^[2].

Katrina Smith’s body was found around 1 p.m., Friday, Nov. 9, in the Rock River near the intersection of Route 2 and Townline Road, south of Byron, Ill. The Ogle County Coroner’s Office identified the body as Katrina Smith’s via dental records Nov. 10.

Rescuers who recovered the body said the body was covered in weeds and algae and had already begun to decompose. Her body was reportedly partially clothed, with the remaining clothes faded from likely being in the river for weeks.

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. Details about whether the blood on the paper towels belonged to Katrina Smith have not been released.

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.

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.

Posted Nov. 12, 2012