Missing Crest Hill Woman's Son Attacks Relative In Joliet: Cops

Joliet IL

05 October, 2021

1:36 PM

Description

JOLIET, IL — The 25-year-old son of missing Crest Hill resident Wendy Gessing has been released from the Will County Jail in connection with allegations that he attacked a relative late Friday night at a house on Joliet's west side. Joliet police say that Joshua "Josh" Gessing has been charged with aggravated domestic battery causing great bodily harm, which is a felony. A Will County judge set bail at $100,000, and Josh Gessing was released from the Will County Jail around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. Crest Hill police chief Ed Clark told Joliet Patch that "we are aware of" Josh Gessing's arrest. However, since that's a Joliet police investigation, Crest Hill's chief said he did not want to comment on that particular case. Clark went on to say that "he's not a suspect at this time," in reference to his mother's June 12 disappearance. At no point since Wendy Gessing's disappearance have the Crest Hill police announced that the missing 50-year-old woman may have been the victim of foul play. Joliet police were called to a house in the 1500 block of Burry Street shortly after 10 p.m. on Friday for a disturbance. In the backyard, Joliet police found a man on the ground with serious injuries to his face and Gessing was standing over him, according to Joliet police spokesman Dwayne English. "Further investigation determined that Gessing and the victim ... had become involved in a fight at which time Gessing indicated he began to strike the victim in the face," police announced. Gessing and the victim were taken by ambulance to the nearby AMITA Health Saint Joseph Medical Center for treatment of their injuries. Gessing was released from the hospital a short time later, police said, and he was booked into the Will County Jail around 1:40 a.m. Saturday. Back on Aug. 10, Joliet Patch's editor met Joshua Gessing while interviewing Wendy Gessing's boyfriend, Scott Harris, at the couple's house in the 1900 block of Hosmer Lane in Crest Hill. At the time he returned home that afternoon, Gessing sat on the front porch and smoked a cigarette as Patch continued to interview Harris, the long time owner of the Pizzas By Marchelloni restaurant in Crest Hill. When asked by Patch if he had any comments about his missing mother, Josh Gessing indicated he didn't have much to say at the moment. During the evening hours of June 12, which was a Saturday, Wendy Gessing vanished from her job at the Pizzas By Marchelloni restaurant on Raynor Avenue in Crest Hill. She and Harris have lived together for several years at the house on Hosmer Lane. In August, Patch asked Josh Gessing and Harris if they could think of anything else the Crest Hill Police Department should be doing to find Gessing. "I think they're doing fine. I have no complaints," Harris remarked. "They're trying to do everything they can. I think they're doing everything they can. I'm not a policeman, so I am not sure what else they should do. They still tell me that's their top priority. Is there anything new? Not really." Although Will County Jail records list the house in the 1900 block of Hosmer Lane as Josh Gessing's address, Scott Harris has previously told Patch that Josh Gessing does not live there.