Charges Not Filed Against Couple After Baby Found Buried In Beer Box, State's Attorney Says

WILIMINGTON, IL — After a court appearance this week before Judge Derek Ewanic, formal charges were not filed against a Manhattan man and Wilmington woman, weeks after a baby was found buried in a beer box in a shallow grave, the Will County State's Attorney's Office said Monday.

Nicole Pokrzywa, 36, of Wilmington, and William Cosmen, 38, of Manhattan, were booked Dec. 6 on charges of abuse of a corpse, after an infant girl was found buried in a Wilmington yard.

Will County Assistant State's Attorney Laura Byrne told Patch Monday that "no charges were filed" when the pair appeared in court, and "the matter is still under investigation by our office and law enforcement."

The Will County Sheriff's Office said detectives received information on Dec. 4 that an infant had been buried on a property in the 1900 block of Roberts Street, which jail records list as Pokrzywa's address. According to sheriff's officials, detectives learned that in October 2024, a 36-year-old woman later determined to be Pokrzywa had given birth to a child, buried it on the property, and marked the site with a large rock on top of the burial site.

Detectives learned that Pokrzywa was believed to be six to eight months pregnant at the time of the birth, and believe the baby weighed 5 to 7 pounds at birth. According to the sheriff's office, the duo said the infant was born in a toilet, and Cosmen attempted to dispose of the child by forcing it down the toilet drain with a plunger.

The two realized that the infant’s body would not fit down the drain, the sheriff's office said, and left the body in the toilet overnight. They then took the infant to the Wilmington property, where they buried it in a shallow grave, according to the sheriff's office.

On Dec. 6, an autopsy was conducted by a forensic pathologist at the Will County Coroner’s Office. The pathologist concluded that the baby girl was at 22 to 27 weeks' gestation. Additional testing of biological materials removed from the female infant is needed due to the level of decomposition, according to the sheriff's office.

The Will County Sheriff’s Office said at the time of the duo's arrests that it will continue to work with members of the Will County State's Attorney's Office regarding additional charges once further testing of the remains is completed.

Pokrzywa and Cosmen were ordered released after being processed, as the offense was considered non-detainable.

Both remain free and, as of Tuesday, were not charged in connection with the infant's death. Will County officials have not said whether Cosmen is the infant's father, and the baby's cause of death remains under investigation.