The Cook County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) Volunteer Search & Rescue Team (VSRT) supports, coordinates, develops, promotes, and implements search and rescue resources with the purpose of saving lives and preserving property. Through a comprehensive emergency response plan, we are prepared to protect, respond, recover, and mitigate various hazardous situations including natural or manmade disasters and other emergencies.
Our team is comprised of our very own CCSO staff and qualified citizens from across the State of Illinois, and some surrounding areas who want to be involved in their community and donate their skills and knowledge to their community. Our team members are volunteer professionals who are highly trained, possess relevant education, skill and experience in various search, rescue and recovery functions.
| SEARCH AND RESCUE SKILLS | |
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| Basic Skills: |
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| Physical Fitness: |
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| Hazmat Training: |
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| Communication Skills: |
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| Search Techniques: |
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| Search and Rescue Dogs: |
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| Drone Operation: |
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Other Volunteer Needs:
- Possess a vehicle and valid driver’s license: transport members, sustenance, water, clean clothes, and equipment
- Acquire and collect resources to support the in-field team members
- Raise awareness through social media, flyers, townhall meetings
- Recruit volunteers
- Pass out sustenance, water, clean clothes, and equipment to the working team
- Serve at a phone bank
- Track and analyze data
- Pet foster care
WHY IS A SEARCH & RESCUE TEAM ESSENTIAL?
When a major city such as Chicago is struck by disaster, the impacted areas will contain numerous sites, buildings, and structures, where survivors may be trapped and require extrication and emergency care. With the ultimate goal of maximizing the number of saved lives, search and rescue teams will saturate the sites with a high likelihood of victim survival.
When a disaster strikes, local response capabilities can be overwhelmed, requiring local agencies to rely on national or international assistance. Life and death decisions are made in a split second in a dynamic situation and limited resources are deployed in minutes and must adapt to ground realities and take advantage of new information from reconnaissance efforts, availability of newly arriving resources, and knowledge of progress made by deployed teams.
Search & rescue efforts pose potential dangers and challenging work, however support from experienced CCSO members and training opportunities are available. In addition, our community search & rescue team members are vital to an operation due to their vast personal knowledge of the local area and its residents.
THE NARRATIVE
Cook County Sheriff’s Police arrested the offender for the November 2020 murder of 22-year-old Vanessa Ceja Ramirez
22-year-old Vanessa Ceja was reported missing on November 2, 2020, by her mother after she disappeared on a walk in the Midlothian Meadows Forest Preserve. On the afternoon of November 2nd, Vanessa was walking with her mother and her mother’s friend when she paused on the trail to tie her pink gym shoes. When Vanessa’s mother could not find her, she called 911, and reported her missing.
Later that evening, the Forest Preserve Police led a search of the preserve. The Sheriff’s Office K-9 and helicopter units were deployed for assistance, but Vanessa could not be located. A search party was formed, and Vanessa’s remains were found two days later in a deep part of the woods in the Midlothian Meadows Forest Preserve in an area known locally as “The Pits.” When members of the police and civilian search party located her body, she was face down with indications she was previously bound and partial burns over her body. At the time of the discovery of her remains, her Apple I-Phone, pink gyms, and a three-quarter length blue jacket were still missing. The Cook County Sheriff’s Police Investigations Section responded to the scene to take over the investigation.
On December 1, 2020, the Sheriff’s Police Detectives were notified by the Cook County Forest Preserve Police Department that a pair of pink gyms were located at the Midlothian Meadows Forest Preserve. The shoes were collected, sent to the crime lab for processing, and a partial DNA profile was developed. Sheriff’s Police Detectives and members of the K-9 unit returned to Midlothian Meadows to conduct article searches of the area, which yielded the recovery of a pair of ASP brand handcuffs. These handcuffs were collected and sent to the crime lab for processing.
Based on the investigation and evidence collected, it is believed that Vanessa was killed on or around November 2, 2020. An autopsy revealed that Vanessa had been strangled, sexually assaulted, and an attempt was made to burn her body. Her death was ruled a homicide.
Prior to her passing, Vanessa lived in Harvey and was attending South Suburban College and St. Xavier in pursuit of her goal to become a teacher. She worked as a teacher’s aide at Lincoln Early Learning Center in Dixmoor and was active in the youth group at St. Donatus Catholic Church in Blue Island. Vanessa was a graduate of Thornwood High School where she was on the soccer team. Vanessa loved reading and going on nature walks with her mom, where they bonded while talking about life.
On January 18, 2025, Dakota Petrey of Lewistown, Illinois was arrested and charged with first-degree murder and aggravated sexual assault for the death of Vanessa Ceja. An arrest warrant was issued on January 16, 2025, after Sheriff’s Police Detectives travelled to Tennessee where Petrey had moved after Vanessa’ murder, executed dozens of search warrants, and submitted multiple items for DNA comparison.
“This heinous crime is every parent’s worst nightmare,” Sheriff Tom Dart said in a news release announcing Petrey’s arrest. “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.” (https://cookcountysheriffil.gov/central-illinois-man-charged-in-2020-murder-sexual-assault-of-22-year-old-woman/).
The investigation into Petrey as a suspect began nearly a week after Vanessa’s body was found when a tip came into the police hotline from one of Petrey’s relatives. The tip alleged that the crime was something “Petrey would do” and that the relative was asked to help move Petrey’s car at around the time of the murder, which was blocks away from the scene.
The evidence collected during the police’s investigation into Petrey was overwhelming. Prior to moving to Tennessee, Petrey lived in Oak Forest. Vanessa’s phone pinged to Petrey’s apartment building in the hours after she was reported missing and continued to ping near the apartment building later that evening. Petrey would not let his then-girlfriend open the door to police who were searching for Vanessa in those first vital hours after she disappeared. When officers were canvassing the area, Petrey was looking out the window. A DNA analysis of items collected during the investigation into Vanessa’s murder revealed that Petrey’s DNA matched the DNA profile found inside Vanessa’s pink gym shoe, his DNA could not be excluded from samples collected on other portions of her shoes or the DNA recovered. A search warrant of Petrey’s residence yielded the recovery of zip ties and lighter fluid, which coincided with the wrist-to-wrist position Vanessa’s arms were in when she was found and the indications of burn efforts on her body.
In addition to the physical DNA evidence, Petrey was familiar with “The Pits” area of the forest preserve where Vanessa’s body was recovered. Petrey was known to be a wanderer, and according to his sister, they used to play in “The Pits” when they were kids. His sister also told detectives that Petrey lived in a heated tent within the Midlothian Woods in 2015. Additionally, she told detectives that Petrey asked her to bring gasoline for his van that was parked at the park, a block away from where Vanessa’s body was found. His vehicle was at the forest preserve around the time of Vanessa’s disappearance.
Although Vanessa was not found alive and the facts of her disappearance are tragic, her story showcases the impact of volunteers and the positive effects of collaborative work. After law enforcement resources were deployed, the formation of a search and rescue team with local citizens allowed members of the community to:
- Raise awareness
- Donate their skills and knowledge of the local area and its residents
- Engage in walks of long stretches of the forest preserve
- Be successful in locating the remains of a local woman known throughout the neighboring communities
With the combined efforts of local law enforcement and members of the community, the search and rescue team were able to return Vanessa’s remains to her mother.