Human Remains Found In October Identified As Mom Who Vanished While Doing Favor For Acquaintance 

Human remains discovered in October have been identified as a missing Illinois mother as authorities announced an arrest in her murder case.

Laura Wolfe-Orlovich, 46, vanished in July and her family reported her as a missing person to her local police department. The La Porte County Sheriff’s Department stated in a Tuesday press release that investigators soon learned that Wolfe had traveled throughout the county before she disappeared. She was helping an acquaintance drive to Michigan, NBC News reported in September.

A month later, items belonging to the missing woman were located near a Springfield Township railway, and while searches were conducted for months, her body wasn't found until a farmer in the same town came across her remains in October, according to the sheriff’s department.

The human remains were identified as Wolfe in December and a coroner ruled her death a homicide. By late December, a probable cause affidavit was granted and an arrest warrant was issued for a man named Lynn Ware Jr., 39, of Martin, Tennessee. He was arrested in O’Fallon, Illinois.

Ware was looked at early on in the investigation as a person of interest, the press release states. He’s expected to be transported to the La Porte County Jail. It’s unclear if he has a lawyer yet.

The relationship, if any, between Wolfe and Ware has not been disclosed.

Wolfe’s daughter, Amber Whitlock, told Dateline’s “Missing in America” in September that her mom’s roommates relayed to her that Wolfe left in July with an acquaintance she knew through a former roommate.

That man, nicknamed “Snoop,” asked her to help him drive up Chicago because his son was killed. He was apparently distraught and had a suspended license. 

“That’s who she is,” Amber explained. “If anyone needs help, she’s always right there to help. Especially when it has to do with a child. I think that story tugged on her heart strings.”

Wolfe called her roommates the next day, telling them she was in Kalamazoo, Michigan and asked them for help getting home, according to Dateline. 

“They were working on getting her a train or bus ticket home,” Amber told the show. “And then she called them again early Friday morning. And sounded even more desperate to get home. Both times the roommates heard a man yelling at her to get off the phone. That was the last time anyone spoke to her.”