Skip to main content.
Religion News Blog is a non-profit service providing academics, religion professionals and other researchers with religion & cult news
ReligionNewsBlog

Religion news articles about religious cults, sects, world religions, and related issues

Navigation:
Home | Site Menu | About RNB | RNB Store | Cult FAQ | Cult Experts | Apologetics Index | Cult Information Search Engine
A Random Image


 Search



 Share & Follow Religion News Blog


 Remember These Stories?


 Amazon

More articles about: Drew and Stacy Peterson:

Clergyman: Ultimately, it was her call

Chicago Sun-Times, USA
Dec. 1, 2007
Dan Rozek, Janet Lundquist and Joe Hosey
www.suntimes.com

ReligionNewsBlog.com • Saturday December 1, 2007

A minister who talked with Stacy Peterson before her disappearance said the Bolingbrook mother feared for her life — and now the clergyman said he’s concerned about his own safety.

“Any time you have issues of people disappearing — and we did — that’s a reason for concern,” said the minister, who asked that neither he nor his church be identified.

After talking to the 23-year-old Peterson, the suburban minister advised her to seek help but said he didn’t know if she approached authorities or family members before vanishing Oct. 28.

“Ultimately, it was her call because it was her situation,” the clergyman said Friday, adding he didn’t take any action himself because of concerns that doing so could put her at risk.

“If I think it would hurt someone’s situation, I wouldn’t,” he said.

Earlier this week, Chicago Sun-Times columnist Michael Sneed reported that Stacy Peterson told a clergyman in August that her husband boasted he had killed his former wife Kathleen Savio, but made her death look like an accident. Stacy’s husband, Drew Peterson, a former Bolingbrook police sergeant, has been named a suspect in her disappearance, which also has caused authorities to reopen their investigation into Savio’s 2004 death by drowning in a bathtub.

On Thursday, an official at Westbrook Christian Church in Bolingbrook said Stacy Peterson had a late August meeting with church staff there. While Pastor Rob Daniels wouldn’t disclose with whom she met or specifics of their discussion, he said “she feared for herself because of her husband.”

The minister interviewed Friday formerly served at Westbrook but wouldn’t confirm he was the clergyman who last conferred with Peterson — or that she talked with him about her husband or about Savio’s death.

But he said he has been interviewed by police about her disappearance.

“I have discussed several matters with police,” the minister said.

He said he doesn’t think Stacy voluntarily would have left her children, as Drew has contended.

“Not a chance,” he said. “Stacy’s a woman of good character.”

Her weeks-long disappearance has him worrying over her safety — and wondering about his decision not to seek help for her.

“In a situation of this magnitude, certainly you always wonder if you made the right decision,” he said.

Drew Peterson has denied any involvement in Stacy’s disappearance or Savio’s death.

Meanwhile, State Police investigating Peterson’s disappearance sent out a bulletin Friday to many suburban police departments asking officers to keep an eye out for a blue, 33-gallon barrel.

A source earlier this week told the Sun-Times that on the day Stacy disappeared, Drew Peterson asked a relative for help moving a blue barrel out of the couple’s home.

The State Police bulletin asked the departments to check the contents of similar barrels they find.

Bookmark share or email this Religion News Blog page Bookmark, Share, or Email This Page

 

Read another article Read Another Article

Tags and keywords for this Apologetics Index entry Related News Articles

arrow

RSS Feed Subscribe to Religion News Blog updates

Religion News Find Related Information

Use our custom search engines to find additional research resources on religions and cults:
arrow ApologeticsSearch.com: Search for apologetics articles, books, videos, and other research resources across 135 Christian apologetics websites and blogs.
arrow CounterCultSearch.com: Search for information about (religious) cults, cult-like organizations, and cults experts -- as well as paranormal-, New Age, and pseudoscientific claims -- across 260+ websites, blogs and forums dedicated to cult research, spiritual abuse, ex-cult counseling & support.

Religion News Find Related Religion & Spirituality Books at Amazon.com

Religion News Possibly related... or Most Popular Religion News Articles

Religion News Search Search Religion News Blog