Key facts
- Name: Stacy Ann Peterson (née Cales)
- Born: January 20, 1984, Downers Grove, Illinois
- Age at disappearance: 23
- Last seen: October 28, 2007
- Location: Bolingbrook, Illinois (reported missing from her home at 6 Pheasant Chase Court)
- Height / build: 5’4″, about 110 lbs, brown hair
- Status: Still missing — her body has never been found
- Investigating agency: Illinois State Police
The phone call that never added up
Drew Peterson said his wife called him at 9 p.m. on Sunday, October 28, 2007.
According to him, 23-year-old Stacy Peterson told him she was leaving him for another man. She’d left her 2002 Pontiac Grand Am at Clow International Airport in Bolingbrook, he said, and she was gone.
Nobody has ever confirmed that call happened. Stacy’s phone records showed no such call to Drew’s phone that night. Her sister Cassandra Cales, who expected to hear from Stacy, heard nothing — and in the early hours of Monday, October 29, she reported her sister missing.
Stacy never boarded a plane. She never used her credit cards. She never called her children — Anthony, then 4, and Lacy, then 2 — again. A young mother finishing her nursing degree does not simply evaporate. But that is what happened: Stacy Peterson walked out of her life on a Sunday night in Bolingbrook, and no trace of her has surfaced in the nineteen years since.
Who Stacy was
Stacy Ann Cales grew up in Downers Grove, Illinois, described by those who knew her as a teenager as troubled but warm — a girl who started dating Drew Peterson at 17, with her father’s permission, while Peterson was still a Bolingbrook police sergeant married to his third wife.
At 49, Peterson married the 19-year-old Stacy on October 18, 2003. They settled at 6 Pheasant Chase Court in Bolingbrook, less than a mile from the house Peterson had shared with his ex-wife Kathleen Savio. Stacy had two children with Peterson — Anthony, born in 2003, and Lacy, born in 2005 — and she legally adopted Savio’s two children, treating all four as her own.
By the fall of 2007, Stacy was close to completing her nursing degree at Joliet Junior College. Friends said she was excited about the future. She was also, by multiple accounts, afraid of her husband — and planning to leave him.
The third wife in the bathtub
You cannot tell Stacy Peterson’s story without Kathleen Savio.
Savio, Peterson’s third wife, was found dead in her bathtub on March 1, 2004. Her death was initially ruled an accidental drowning. But after Stacy vanished, Savio’s body was exhumed, re-examined, and her death reclassified as a homicide — she had been murdered.
In 2012, Drew Peterson was convicted of Savio’s murder and sentenced to 38 years in prison. In 2016, he received an additional 40 years for plotting to hire a hitman to kill the prosecutor who had put him away. He has never been charged in Stacy’s disappearance, but Illinois State Police have long called him the prime suspect — the only suspect, in practical terms.
Stacy reportedly told friends and family more than once that she believed Peterson had killed Savio, and that she feared she could be next. Her pastor said Stacy told him Peterson had threatened her. A neighbor reported seeing a large blue barrel — big enough to hold a body — being moved from the Peterson home around the time Stacy vanished. Searchers tore up the yard, dredged waterways, and dug where cadaver dogs alerted. They found nothing.
The investigation
The Illinois State Police took the lead on Stacy’s case, and it became one of the most intensely covered missing-person investigations in Illinois history. National media camped in Bolingbrook. Volunteers searched forest preserves and landfills. In 2009, authorities searched the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.
Peterson, meanwhile, played to the cameras — joking with reporters, appearing on talk shows, at one point auctioning himself off for a “date” to raise money. His defense attorney Joel Brodsky later told Marcia Clark Investigates that he claimed to know what happened to Stacy, and said he believed that after Drew died, Stacy would be found. He refused to elaborate.
In 2021, Peterson — still in prison — briefly made headlines again when he was linked to a possible new search area, but nothing came of it. Stacy’s family launched a website to keep her case alive. Her children, raised by other relatives, grew up without their mother.
Theories: what might have happened
Murder by Drew Peterson. This is the theory the evidence points to, and the one investigators have pursued for nineteen years: that Stacy was killed by her husband, likely on the night of October 28, 2007, and her body hidden somewhere it has never been found. Supporting it: the phantom 9 p.m. phone call with no phone record, Peterson’s conviction for murdering his previous wife under staged circumstances, Stacy’s stated fear of him, and the blue barrel sighting. Undercutting a prosecution: no body, no forensic evidence tying Peterson to a killing, and no witness to the act itself.
Voluntary disappearance. Peterson’s own account — that Stacy ran off with another man. No evidence has ever supported it: no sightings, no financial activity, no contact with her children, and no “other man” has ever been identified. Investigators dismissed it almost immediately.
Have information?
Contact the Illinois State Police or the FBI Chicago Field Office at (312) 421-6700. You can also submit tips to the FBI at tips.fbi.gov or call the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678. In an emergency, dial 911.
Timeline
- January 20, 1984 — Stacy Ann Cales is born in Downers Grove, Illinois.
- October 18, 2003 — Marries Drew Peterson in Bolingbrook.
- 2003–2005 — Sons Anthony and daughter Lacy are born; Stacy adopts Savio’s two children.
- March 1, 2004 — Kathleen Savio found dead in her bathtub (later ruled homicide).
- October 28, 2007 — Stacy is last heard from; Drew claims a 9 p.m. call saying she’s leaving him.
- October 29, 2007 — Reported missing by her sister Cassandra in the early morning hours.
- 2007–2009 — Massive searches of the Peterson home, waterways, and forest preserves; nothing found.
- September 2012 — Drew Peterson convicted of murdering Kathleen Savio; sentenced to 38 years.
- 2016 — Peterson sentenced to an additional 40 years for a murder-for-hire plot.
- Today — Still missing. No trace of Stacy Peterson has ever been found.
FAQ
Is Stacy Peterson still missing?
Yes. As of October 2026, Stacy Peterson has been missing for nearly nineteen years. Her body has never been found and the case remains open with the Illinois State Police.
Was Stacy Peterson ever found?
No. Despite one of the largest search efforts in Illinois history — including searches of the family home, canals, and forest preserves — no trace of Stacy has ever been located.
How old would Stacy Peterson be today?
Stacy was born January 20, 1984. She turned 42 in January 2026.
Was Drew Peterson charged in Stacy’s disappearance?
No. Drew Peterson was convicted in 2012 of murdering his third wife, Kathleen Savio, and is serving a 38-year sentence plus an additional 40 years for a 2016 murder-for-hire conviction. He has never been charged in connection with Stacy’s disappearance, though investigators have consistently named him the prime suspect.
What happened to Stacy Peterson’s children?
Stacy’s children Anthony and Lacy were raised by relatives after her disappearance. Drew Peterson lost custody, and the children have grown up without their mother.
How can I help?
Share this case file. If you have any information, contact the Illinois State Police or the FBI Chicago Field Office at (312) 421-6700.
Sources
- Official / law enforcement: Illinois State Police (lead agency on the Stacy Peterson investigation).
- News: Chicago Tribune; Chicago Sun-Times; coverage of the 2012 Savio murder trial and 2016 murder-for-hire sentencing.
- Reference: Wikipedia, “Drew Peterson” (retrieved Oct 2026) — case summary of Stacy Ann Peterson’s disappearance; family awareness website.
- Media: Marcia Clark Investigates The First 48 (defense attorney Joel Brodsky interview).
Found an error? Tell us via the About page and we will fix it promptly and note the change here. Last verified October 2026.