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Murder — Suspect Charged, Awaiting Trial

The Murder of Vanessa Ceja Ramirez

● Suspect Charged — Awaiting Trial Cold Case — Arrested 4 Years Later Midlothian, Cook County, Illinois November 2, 2020
Victim
Vanessa Ceja Ramirez
Age
22
Date of Death
November 2, 2020
Location
Midlothian Meadows Forest Preserve, Cook County
Charged Suspect
Dakota Petrey
Charges
First-Degree Murder, Aggravated Criminal Sexual Assault
Arrested
January 18, 2025 — 4 Years Later
Case Status
Awaiting Trial — Held Without Bond
Vanessa Ceja Ramirez
Full NameVanessa Ceja Ramirez
Age22
FromHarvey, Illinois
OccupationTeaching aide
Date of DeathNovember 2, 2020
Cause of DeathStrangulation — Homicide
Body FoundNovember 4, 2020
About the Victim

Vanessa Ceja Ramirez

Vanessa Ceja Ramirez was 22 years old and a teaching aide from Harvey, Illinois. Her family described her as a beautiful person who enjoyed life, loved going to restaurants and stores, and was devoted to visiting family. She was the kind of person who was out on a November afternoon doing something simple and ordinary, walking through a forest preserve with her mother and a family friend, because that is what people do on afternoons when nothing is wrong.

On November 2, 2020, she paused on the trail at Midlothian Meadows to tie her pink gym shoes. She told her mother she was tired and would meet her back at the car. When her mother reached the parking lot, Vanessa was not there. Her mother texted her phone. The last response she received was "ha verdad," loosely meaning "for real." Then the calls started going to voicemail.

Vanessa's family spent four years without answers, organizing vigils, raising reward funds, and keeping her name visible. In November 2020 a community reward reached $9,000. Her family told WGN News: "Vanessa was a beautiful person. She enjoyed life." That is what should be remembered about her. She was 22 and on a walk with her mother. She deserved to make it to the car.

01
Background

What We Know

On the afternoon of November 2, 2020, Vanessa Ceja Ramirez was walking with her mother and her mother's friend through the Midlothian Meadows Forest Preserve in Cook County. She stopped to tie her pink gym shoes, told her mother she was tired, and said she would meet her at the car. When her mother arrived at the parking lot, Vanessa was not there. Police were called by approximately 5 PM. K-9 units and helicopters searched the preserve that evening but did not find her.

Using Find My iPhone, Vanessa's mother tracked her phone first to a school near 151st and Central, then to an apartment complex at 14700 South Central Avenue in nearby Oak Forest. Police canvassed the building. As they did, a man named Dakota Petrey and his girlfriend watched from their apartment window, lights off, while Petrey paced between windows. The phone was not located. Two days later, on November 4, Vanessa's body was found deep in the woods in an area known locally as "The Pits" — face down, wrists bound, strangled, and partially burned. Her phone, coat, and shoes were not at the scene. The Cook County Medical Examiner ruled her death a homicide by strangulation.

Petrey and Vanessa had no known connection to each other. She was a stranger to him. Investigators believe she was sexually assaulted, strangled, bound, and burned in a remote part of the preserve that Petrey knew intimately, having lived in those woods in 2015.

02
Case Timeline

How It Unfolded

November 2, 2020 — Afternoon
Vanessa Disappears in Midlothian Meadows
Walking with her mother and a family friend, Vanessa paused to tie her pink gym shoes and told her mother she would meet her at the car. She never arrived. Police were called by 5 PM. K-9 units and helicopters searched the preserve without result.
November 2, 2020 — Evening
Phone Tracked to Petrey's Apartment Building
Vanessa's mother used Find My iPhone to track her phone to the Manchester Apartments at 14700 South Central Avenue in Oak Forest, where Dakota Petrey lived. Police canvassed the building. Petrey and his girlfriend watched from their darkened apartment as officers searched below. His girlfriend later told investigators that Petrey paced between windows with the lights off while police were outside.
November 4, 2020
Vanessa's Body Found in "The Pits"
A search party including police and community members found Vanessa's body face down in a remote part of the woods known locally as "The Pits," near 15300 South Pulaski Road. She had been strangled, her wrists bound, and her body partially burned. Her phone, coat, and shoes were not found at the scene. The Cook County Medical Examiner ruled her death a homicide.
Late November 2020
Petrey's Relative Tips Off Police — Petrey Flees to Tennessee
A relative of Petrey contacted the tip line, stating that harming someone was "something Petrey would do" and that they had been asked to move his car, which was parked near the forest preserve around the time of the murder. Petrey was served an eviction notice on November 13 and moved to Tennessee. His relative continued cooperating with investigators and told police Petrey had previously lived in a heated tent inside the Midlothian Woods, and that he had asked her to bring him gasoline for his van parked near the crime scene.
April 2021
Tennessee Surveillance — DNA Collected
Cook County detectives coordinated with Tennessee law enforcement to conduct surveillance on Petrey. Officers collected a discarded can he had been drinking from at work, allowing DNA comparison without his cooperation.
September 2021
Petrey Interviewed — Denies Everything, Submits DNA Swab
Investigators formally interviewed Petrey. He denied any contact with Vanessa, denied having her phone, and claimed he hadn't been to the preserve since childhood. He submitted to a cheek swab. DNA analysis subsequently connected his profile to Vanessa's pink gym shoe and other items recovered from her body and the crime scene.
December 2020 — 2024
Ongoing Investigation — Vanessa's Shoes Recovered
Investigators continued executing search warrants over four years, building their DNA and circumstantial case. In December, shoes believed to be Vanessa's were located near where her body had been found. Zip ties and lighter fluid were recovered from a search of Petrey's residence, consistent with the way Vanessa's body was found. Petrey moved to central Illinois by 2023 and accumulated multiple new criminal charges including aggravated fleeing of police and traffic offenses.
January 14–18, 2025
Arrest Warrant Issued — Petrey Arrested on Release
On January 14, detectives traveled to Fulton County Jail where Petrey was being held on unrelated charges. In a final interview, Petrey said he didn't believe the DNA evidence and planned to move back to Chicago when released. An arrest warrant was issued January 16. On January 18, Petrey was released from Fulton County Jail and immediately taken into custody by Cook County Sheriff's Police. He was charged with first-degree murder and aggravated criminal sexual assault.
January 19, 2025 — Ongoing
Ordered Detained — Awaiting Trial
Petrey appeared at the George N. Leighton Criminal Courthouse on January 19 and was ordered held without bond pending trial. A second court appearance followed on January 22. As of early 2026, no trial date has been publicly announced. Petrey remains in custody. The investigation is noted by the Cook County Sheriff's Office as ongoing.
03
Investigation

The Investigation

The investigation was led by Cook County Sheriff's Police over four and a half years, spanning three states and involving dozens of search warrants, multi-agency surveillance, and extensive forensic DNA analysis. The first tip pointing to Petrey came from within his own family, approximately a week after Vanessa's body was discovered. That relative continued to cooperate with investigators throughout the case, providing crucial context about Petrey's familiarity with the preserve, his movements on the day of the murder, and his vehicle's proximity to the crime scene.

The physical evidence built incrementally. Petrey's DNA was matched to Vanessa's pink gym shoe, to samples recovered from her body, and to the crime scene. A search of his residence yielded zip ties and lighter fluid, items consistent with how Vanessa's body was found. Her shoes were recovered in December near the location of her body. His cellphone placed him in the area of the preserve the day she disappeared, and the Find My iPhone trail placed her phone inside his apartment building within hours of her disappearance. His girlfriend's later cooperation with investigators provided witness testimony about his behavior that evening as police searched below their darkened window.

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said at the time of the arrest that it took years of tireless work by his detectives and that they never gave up on finding Vanessa's killer. That statement is accurate. The case is a study in patient forensic work across state lines and years. Petrey remains held without bond at the George N. Leighton Criminal Courthouse pending trial.

04
Suspect

Arrest and Charges

Dakota Petrey
Dakota Petrey
Age 30 — Lewistown, Illinois — No Prior Connection to Victim
Arrested: January 18, 2025 — Lewistown, Fulton County, Illinois
Charges: First-degree murder, aggravated criminal sexual assault
Custody: Held without bond — George N. Leighton Criminal Courthouse, Chicago
Key Evidence: DNA match to Vanessa's gym shoe, body, and crime scene, phone data placing him at the scene, zip ties and lighter fluid recovered from his residence, witness testimony from his girlfriend and relative, van parked near the crime scene, intimate knowledge of "The Pits" area
Relationship to Victim: No known connection — stranger attack
Trial Status: Awaiting trial — no date publicly set as of early 2026
05
In Her Memory

She Is Not Forgotten

Vanessa Ceja Ramirez was 22 years old. She was on a walk. She stopped to tie her shoes and told her mother she would meet her at the car. That is the last thing her mother heard from her in person. The last text was three words in Spanish that meant nothing alarming. And then she was gone.

Her family did not stop. They organized vigils. They raised reward money. They kept her name in the news for four years while investigators worked quietly across state lines. Her mother had to track her daughter's phone through Find My iPhone that evening, watching a dot move toward an apartment building where a man stood in the dark watching police search for her daughter from a window above.

Four years later, the man was arrested leaving a jail in downstate Illinois. He was charged with her murder the same afternoon. That is what justice looks like when it finally comes, and even then, it cannot give Vanessa back. She was a beautiful person. She enjoyed life. She loved going to the store, restaurants, visiting family. She was simply on a walk. Vanessa Ceja Ramirez is not forgotten.

Sources
Cook County Sheriff's Office — Official Press Release, January 2025  |  Fox 32 Chicago — Arrest Coverage, January 2025  |  ABC7 Chicago — Arrest Report, January 2025  |  Patch / Oak Forest — Prosecution Detail, January 2025  |  WGN-TV — Investigation Timeline, January 2025  |  Chicago Tribune — Charges Filed, January 2025  |  Chicago Sun-Times — Arrest Report, January 2025  |  Law & Crime — Case Detail, January 2025
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