Dead man's family sought

January 10, 2007
By BRIAN STANLEY Staff Writer
JOLIET --The four photographs found in his wallet indicate Ramon Ambrice-Amaro had loved ones.

And Will County Coroner Pat O'Neil is hoping someone in the pictures or someone else who knew the Mexican immigrant will be able to claim his body. The 67-year-old man died Jan. 3 at Silver Cross Hospital. He'd been taken there early on Dec. 27 after apparently collapsing on the street outside MorningStar Mission.

"We'd like to reach out to his family or the Hispanic community and get in touch if anyone's looking for him," O'Neil said.


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"The hospital wasn't able to positively identify him because some of the identification in his wallet didn't look legitimate."
Ambrice-Amaro's wallet had two differently numbered alien identity cards. One of which was legitimate.

Police compared fingerprints taken from Ambrice-Amaro's body to those on file at the Department of Immigration and were able to identify him last week.

Immigration records from 1990 and 1997 and an old check stub found in the wallet listed Ambrice-Amaro's address as 405 Ohio St. but that address was replaced by a strip mall several years ago. O'Neil said police interviewed residents living near that location, but none recognized Ambrice-Amaro.

The check stub indicates Ambrice-Amaro worked as a landscaper. Besides the stub and identity cards, the wallet contained a losing lottery ticket, a few dollars and four well-worn photographs.

Two of the pictures show different women sitting at a neighborhood bar. Another shows a young woman smiling with a stuffed bunny. A cutout Polaroid shows several women in dresses standing as a group against a wall. All of the women in the pictures appear to be Hispanic.

Ambrice-Amaro also had a wristwatch, a disposable lighter, some coins and tokens to Odyssey Fun World and Harrah's Casino in his pockets when he was found.

"It looks like he has a pretty large family. We know someone out there is probably looking for this fellow," O'Neil said.

O'Neil said Ambrice-Amaro's death appears to be the result of natural causes. If no one claims his body in the next month, Ambrice-Amaro will become a ward of the state and the coroner's office will arrange for his burial.

Anyone with information about Ramon Ambrice-Amaro can call the coroner's office at (815) 727-8455.

Reporter Brian Stanley can be reached at (815) 729-6079 or bstanley@scn1.com /a>


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