Dead Ex-Convict Found in Car Parked Outside Dollar Store Identified Through Tattoos

JOLIET, IL — The man found dead and slumped over the back seat of a compact car parked outside a Joliet dollar store has been identified.

Justin Ruch, 35, was identified by his tattoos, police said.

An autopsy was performed on the New Lenox resident Tuesday but the results were inconclusive. Will County Coroner Patrick O’Neil’s office said a cause of death will be determined through toxicological testing and the police investigation.

A police source said fresh puncture wounds were present on Ruch’s left hand.

Ruch was released from prison in July 2014. He had been sentenced to a year behind bars for a felony domestic battery conviction.

Ruch was let out of Stateville with time served on the same day he was admitted to the prison, according to Department of Corrections records.

Ruch was arrested in January 2014 on charges of home invasion, unlawful restraint, aggravated domestic battery and domestic battery for allegedly breaking down the door to his girlfriend's home and savagely attacking her.

He bonded out of jail eight days after his arrest but within a week was locked up again for allegedly stalking the same woman and damaging her property.

Prosecutors dismissed all the charges except for the felony domestic battery. He was found guilty following a trial.