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Stebic must give answers

VISITATION REQUEST

JOLIET -- The parents of missing Plainfield mom Lisa Stebic succeeded in forcing their suspected son-in-law to face questions about his wife's disappearance.

But while Craig Stebic must respond to probes from his in-laws, who have filed a petition seeking visitation rights to the Stebics' children, he is free to plead the Fifth to questions he thinks could incriminate him.

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Lisa Stebic was reported missing May 1, the morning after she was last seen by her husband at home.

Police called the case a missing person investigation until July, when they named Stebic a "person of interest" in Lisa's disappearance.

Lisa's parents and grandparents -- Lawrence and Judith Ruttenberg and Milton and Charlotte Ruttenberg -- filed the visitation petition in November.

Neither couple has seen the Stebic children, ages 11 and 13, in almost a year.

Some of the questions asked and documents sought by the Ruttenbergs go "far beyond" visitation issues, said Craig's lawyer Dion Davi.

Davi wanted to prevent Craig from answering the Ruttenbergs' discovery request until Craig is no longer under suspicion by police. But that time frame is unknown, Judge Robert Brumund pointed out.

Timothy Daw, a lawyer for Lisa's family, has said the couples just want to see the children and that Stebic has prohibited any contact.

"We have no criminal proceeding pending. I don't know if we'll ever have a criminal proceeding pending," Daw said. "This is not about whether Craig is guilty or innocent."

After the hearing, Davi said he suspects the Ruttenbergs are using the visitation petition to do their own detective work, possibly working with police.

Melanie Greenberg, a spokeswoman for Lisa's family, said that is not the case.

In October, Stebic blocked Lisa's sisters from seeing the children because he was upset they put fliers and a billboard up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, she said.

"It's been six months since anyone in the family has seen the kids," Greenberg said after the hearing. "Lisa's children are the only thing we have left of Lisa."

Craig has not been charged in connection with his wife's disappearance.

"(Police) are investigating him," Davi said. "They can say what they want to categorize (the case)."

Plainfield Police Chief Don Bennett said Lisa's case straddles a fine line between a missing person investigation and a criminal investigation.

While no trace of Lisa has been found, the nearly year-long probe into her disappearance has found no evidence to support Craig's claim that she left home on her own, Bennett said. Lisa's family and authorities acknowledge Lisa likely is not alive.

"We made public that we felt Lisa was a victim of foul play," Bennett said. "We certainly considered (Craig) a suspect. At this point, he's still the only suspect.

"(Lisa's) family is not secretly working with the police department to find additional information in reference to our investigation," he said. "The family basically is very concerned about the welfare of those children."

Contact Janet Lundquist at (815) 729-6014 or jlundquist@scn1.com