RIVERSIDE-BROOKFIELD Also serving North Riverside $1.00
Vol. 35, No. 37
September 9, 2020
Tobolski guilty Former county commissioner pleads to extortion charge PAGE 3
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Brookfield manager hires new community development director PAGE 7 Ames School students, teachers christen renovated building PAGE 12
North Riverside mayor acts to change fire chief
A year later, no word on missing Brookfielder
Surprise move brings in Forest Park’s McDermott to lead department
Police chief says detectives continue to pursue investigation
By BOB UPHUES Editor
By BOB UPHUES Editor
Later this month will mark one year since 53-year-old Brookfield resident Erica Thompson went missing. The last time she was seen alive was on the afternoon of Sept. 25, 2019, when a security camera captured her making a bank deposit in the Eight Corners business district, not too far from her home in the 9200 block of ERICA THOMPSON Monroe Avenue. During the early hours of the following morning, according to police, her cellphone traveled through several neighboring towns, including Countryside, See THOMPSON on page 11
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WAITING: Michael Russo sits on the front stoop of his mother’s home in Brookfield. It’s been nearly year since Erica Thompson disappeared, and police are still trying to locate both her and her car.
North Riverside Fire Chief John Kiser resigned from his post Sept. 3, paving the way for the village to hire Bob McDermott, who is retiring from a 32-year career as a firefighter in Forest Park at the end of the month. McDermott, 53, a Forest Park native and Nazareth Academy graduate who lives in LaGrange Park, was elevated to fire chief in Forest Park in 2016 after 11 years as deputy chief. He started his career as a full-time firefighter there in 1988. McDermott, who will split his time between North Riverside and Forest Park through the end of September, reported for his first day in North Riverside on Sept. 4. “The timing could not have been more perfect,” said McDermott, who said it was time for him to leave the firehouse that’d been his second home for three decades. “I’ve been either deputy chief or chief in Forest Park for the past 17 years, and I think there comes a point where organizations are ready for a change,” McDermott said. “I think Forest Park is ready for a change.” See FIRE CHIEF on page 13
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