Sept. 08--A head and body parts discovered over the weekend in the Garfield Park Lagoon belonged to an African-American child between 2 and 3 years old, investigators said Monday.
The cause and manner of the child's death are pending the results of additional tests and the ongoing police investigation, according to Frank Shuftan, a spokesman for the Cook County medical examiner's office.
No timeline has been set for the release of those results, Shuftan said.
The head was discovered by Chicago police late Sunday near where other body parts were discovered the previous afternoon.
A foot was found about 4:40 p.m. Saturday in the lagoon off the 200 block of McCrea Drive in Garfield Park, authorities said.
Police later found the child's other foot, and both hands toward the north end of the lagoon about 25 yards away. A 20-pound weight was found nearby, authorities said.
The limbs were in an advanced state of decomposition and not clothed, authorities said.
Police officers patrolling the park late into the evening Sunday kept a tight leash on the area. Despite a large perimeter of yellow and red crime scene tape roping off the lagoon, police closed off an additional area about 75 to 100 feet beyond the crime scene.
Reporters and photographers were confined to a small area on the west edge of the park, and the grounds were closed to the public, restricting people to the sidewalk.
Someone called 911 to report a foot floating in the lagoon Saturday afternoon. It turned out to be the left foot of the toddler, according to authorities.
Chicago police detectives, the marine unit and K-9 officers returned to the lagoon Sunday morning. Investigators searched the edges of the waist-deep, mucky water, lifting logs and fallen branches. A police dog sniffed the shoreline, at one point plunging into the water.
During the day Sunday, police hauled several items from the water, but they appeared to be machinery or tools. Other officers gathered evidence from the shore.
