Peter Salvino Obituary, Death – Early Tuesday evening, the body of Peter Salvino, a 25-year-old Northwestern PhD student, was discovered in Lake Michigan near Diversey Harbor. Soon after 6 p.m., Chicago police announced that a body had been discovered in Diversey Harbor, near where his phone had pinged for the final time after his kidnapping. Tuesday night, the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed Salvino’s identification. An autopsy is being performed, and no cause of death has been determined.
Salvino was last seen late Saturday night in the 2400 block of North Geneva Terrace, after leaving a party in Lincoln Park. He last spoke with a friend on FaceTime while driving back to his house at 12:15 a.m. According to a family representative, Salvino called a buddy on FaceTime about 11:59 p.m. and said he was walking to his home in the 800 block of West Lill Avenue, which was about a half-mile away. At 12:15 a.m., the same friend called to confirm Salvino’s arrival, but the 25-year-old indicated he was still on his way home.
Salvino’s phone pinged a location near Diversey Harbor at 12:31 a.m., according to a family representative. The friend called again at 12:37 a.m. to see if Salvino had arrived home, but the call went unanswered. Several friends sent text messages to his phone between then and 9:30 a.m., which were successfully delivered but went ignored, according to the spokesperson. At 9:45 a.m., all calls went to voicemail and all text messages went unanswered.
In recent days, the man’s family and friends have urged the public for assistance in analyzing local security footage in try to retrace his actions. “The aim is to obtain camera video,” revealed Salvino’s brother-in-law, Scotty Gruska. “He hasn’t gotten in touch with us since Saturday at midnight. We have all missed him. I know that people are working on it and that law enforcement is doing everything they can. But there is so much more we want to do.” Surveillance footage from The Weiner Circle in Lincoln Park on Saturday night shows Salvino inside the restaurant before he went missing. Anyone with information or video surveillance footage can call Area Three Special Victims Unit at 312-744-8266.