'We Never Gave Up': Arrest Made In Brutal 2020 Slaying Of Harvey Woman, 22

COOK COUNTY — A 30-year-old man has been charged with first-degree murder in the brutal 2020 slaying of a 22-year-old Harvey woman, the Cook County Sheriff's Office said Tuesday.

The body of Vanessa Ceja Ramirez was found in the Midlothian Meadows Forest Preserve on Nov. 4, 2020, two days after she disappeared while on a walk there with her mother and a friend. Authorities say she had been sexually assaulted and strangled, her body then partially burned.

Cook County Sheriff’s Police detectives launched an investigation, in which they executed dozens of search warrants and submitted multiple pieces of evidence for DNA comparison to identify the offender, now known as Dakota Petrey, of Lewistown, IL.

Detectives learned that at the time of Ceja Ramirez’s disappearance, Petrey lived at an apartment building in Oak Forest, where the victim’s cell phone pinged shortly after she was reported missing by family members.

Investigators connected Petrey’s DNA and DNA recovered from the victim and the crime scene. He was also known to frequent Midlothian Meadows, according to the investigation.

There is no indication that Petrey and Ceja Ramirez knew each other.

“This heinous crime is every parent’s worst nightmare,” Sheriff Dart said. “It took years of tireless work by our police detectives to investigate this case, but we never gave up on finding Vanessa’s killer and seeking justice for her and her family.”

An arrest warrant was issued for Petrey on Jan. 16, and Sheriff’s Police took him into custody on Saturday, Jan. 18, after he was released from the Fulton County Jail in Lewistown where he had been held since Oct. 7, 2024, on unrelated charges.

The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office approved first degree murder and aggravated criminal sexual assault charges against Petrey later that day. He was ordered detained pending trial during his initial appearance hearing on Sunday, Jan. 19 at the George N. Leighton Criminal Courthouse.