Missing Lyons man identified as the victim of an apparent homicide

UPDATED: Lyons Police working with the Major Case Assistance Team (MCAT) have confirmed the identification of a body found Saturday morning is the man who was reported missing by his family last week.

Lyons Police Chief James Keating said that Paresh Jhobalia, 62, had been reported missing on November 10, 2018 and that the investigation into his disappearance led investigators to his vehicle where his body was discovered Saturday.

Keating said the case is being treated as a homicide but declined at this time to provide any additional information.

“We’re working with MCAT at this time to go through all of the evidence and we cannot make any additional comments at this time,” Keating said.

Detectives obtained a search warrant and were able to inspect the missing man’s vehicle, a Honda, which was parked near his home in Lyons around 44^th and Prescott Avenue. The body was discovered Saturday around 11 am in the vehicle, but was not immediately visible from outside of the car.

BACKGROUND

Lyons Police Department working with Major Case Assistance Team (MCAT), the West Suburban Detectives Task Force, discovered a body inside a vehicle owned by a man reported missing on Nov. 10, 2018.

The identification of the body is being conducted by the Cook County Coroner, but the body was inside a vehicle that was owned by Paresh Jhobalia, 62, who was last seen in Downers Grove and reported missing by his family members.

Police and MACT detectives obtained a search warrant to inspect the vehicle, a Honda, which was parked behind the missing man’s home in Lyons near 44^th and Prescott Avenue. The body was discovered Saturday around 11 am.

Lyons Police officials had asked members of the public this week to assist in helping to locate the missing individual.

Police said that they are urging anyone who knows anything about the missing man and the incident to contact the Lyons Police Department at 708-447-1225.

Jhobalia has no children and was living alone at the home.

Paresh Jhobalia, 62, missing from his home in Lyons, Illinois, since Nov. 10, 2018.

• Author
• Recent Posts

Ray Hanania

Ray Hanania is an award-winning columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.  

Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

A critic of mainstream news media bias, Hanania advocates for peace & justice for Israel & Palestine, & the empowerment of Arabs in America. 

Click here to listen to Ray's Political Podcast. 

Hanania's columns are archived on his personal website at RayHanania.com. Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.

Email Ray Hanania at rghanania@gmail.com.

Latest posts by Ray Hanania (see all)

• Town President Larry Dominick decorates Town hall for Christmas - December 4, 2019
• Congressman Lipinski co-sponsors bill to block illegal robocalls - December 4, 2019
• Ald. Quinn Looks to Extend Ban of Airbnb in 13th Ward - December 4, 2019