A heavily pregnant woman�was found floating in Lake Michigan after being stabbed to death.
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Police with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office have confirmed that the body is that of 19-year-old Yarianna Wheeler, a missing Chicago woman who was between six to nine months pregnant.
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Authorities confirmed that Yarianna had sustained several “sharp force” injuries to her body, and her death is being treated as a homicide. However, a full post-mortem examination to determine her official cause of death is still pending.
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The announcement comes almost one week after Wheeler’s body was found floating in the water, where it had reportedly been for between seven and 12 days.
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Her body was found by a fisherman on the lake at around 3pm on August 15, who immediately informed the authorities, according to local media.
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By August 20, a sketch was released by the Sheriff’s Office to show what they believed the victim may have looked like when she was alive, as they asked for helpt to identify her.
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Following this, cops received several dozen tips from members of the public, one of which led them to Wheeler, who was captured on CCTV entering a store on what’s believed to be the last day she was seen alive.
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Lt. Christopher Covelli of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office told local media: “When they saw the image, they knew they were on the right track.
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“From there, they were able to obtain dental records, which led to her ultimately being identified.”
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The Lake County Sheriff’s Office is now asking for the public to provide any information about her death.
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Also, just hours after Wheeler’s body was found, a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter discovered the body of a man, identified as 49-year-old Martin Mendoza, of Waukesha, Wisconsin, also floating in the lake.
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Officials say it appears he drowned, and the two incidents are not related.
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