In Memory

Emily Foley-Mutz

Chicago Tribune, December 10, 2003

The body of the wife of a prominent Chicago-area developer was found Tuesday morning along the Lake Michigan shore in Winnetka, police said.

Emily Foley Mutz, 50, of the 0-99 block of Rock Ridge Road, Barrington Hills, apparently drowned, said Eric Bennett, Winnetka's deputy police chief. An autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday, officials said.

Mutz's husband, Gregory, is board chairman of AMLI Residential Properties Trust in Chicago. Emily Mutz is listed as a member of the Woman's Board of Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, according to the hospital's Web site.

A person who lives in the 1000 block of Sheridan Road called police about 8 a.m. Tuesday after he looked out his window and saw the body a few feet from shore, Bennett said.

Mutz was fully clothed and had not been in the water long, Bennett said.

"There were no visible signs of trauma on the body," he said.

----------

Chicago Tribune, December 11, 2003

The death of a Barrington Hills woman whose body was found near the shore in Winnetka remained a mystery Wednesday as police tried to determine how the wife of a prominent Chicago-area developer drowned in Lake Michigan.

Emily Foley Mutz, 50, was a devoted wife and mother of seven children who recently had gone back to school to study law, her husband said.

"She was excited about her career," said Gregory Mutz, 57, board chairman of AMLI Residential Properties Trust in Chicago. "I can't explain what happened. I don't know."

An autopsy Wednesday offered little insight. The Cook County medical examiner's office ruled the death a drowning, but the manner was undetermined.

Winnetka Deputy Police Chief Eric Bennett said Wednesday he would not speculate about how Mutz died.

Mutz was last seen by her family Monday morning before she left for the Metra train station in Fox River Grove on her way to DePaul University, her husband said. She planned to study for an exam scheduled for Tuesday, he said.

At 8 a.m. Tuesday a person who lives in the 1000 block of Sheridan Road looked out his window and spotted a body in Lake Michigan a few feet from shore. Mutz had not been in the water long, and there were no visible signs of trauma on her body, which was fully clothed, police said.

Winnetka police and members of the North Regional Major Crimes Task Force issued a community alert Tuesday that said Mutz was a frequent rider of commuter trains. Police handed out photos of Mutz at the Hubbard Woods train station in Winnetka, Bennett said.

Mutz grew up in Winnetka and attended New Trier High School before she went to Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., her husband said.

After college, Mutz worked for a Chicago investment banking company, he said. After she married her first husband and began having children, she left the workforce to focus on her family, he said.

Gregory and Emily Mutz got married eight years ago and combined their families, which she was able to do with "style and grace," said her husband. He had three children from a previous marriage, and she had four. She became like a second mother to his children, he said.

Mutz was devoted to her family and delayed on pursuing her own career until most of the children were out of the house, her husband said.

Mutz was interested in women's issues and the difficulties affecting children, her husband said. She hoped to become a family lawyer and an advocate for them, he said.

"We were very fortunate to live where we live and have what we have, and she felt there were a lot of families ... that didn't have the advantages that we had," her husband said. "They needed, perhaps, a lawyer, somebody to represent them, somebody to help them."

She was in her first year of law school at DePaul.

"We were very saddened to learn of her death," said Robin Florzak, a DePaul spokeswoman. "She will be missed by the faculty, staff and students who knew her."

Mutz also spent for 10 years on the Woman's Board of Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago. No one at the hospital was available for comment, a spokesman said.

"She was a woman of immense energy and vitality," her husband said. "You had to know her to appreciate the sparkle--just the energy she created when she walked into a room--it was astounding."

Private services are planned for Friday in Barrington.

Investigators have asked anyone with information about the death to call Winnetka police, 847-501-6034, or the Major Crimes Task Force, 847-853-7580.


[Illustration]
PHOTO; Caption: PHOTO: Emily Foley Mutz was found drowned Tuesday in Lake Michigan near Winnetka. What led to her death is unclear.
----------

Chicago Tribune, December 18, 2003

After sending a diver into Lake Michigan and interviewing a witness, police said Wednesday that they are still seeking clues in the mysterious death of a Barrington Hills woman whose body was found near the Winnetka shore Dec. 9.

Emily Foley Mutz, 50, a mother of seven who had recently gone back to school to study law, talked briefly with a man on the private beach hours before she drowned, Winnetka Deputy Police Chief Eric Bennett said Wednesday.

The Cook County medical examiner's office ruled the death a definite drowning, but the manner was undetermined. Police are awaiting toxicology results, which could take six weeks, Bennett said.

----------

Chicago Tribune, January 7, 2004

A Barrington Hills woman who drowned in Lake Michigan near Winnetka had no alcohol, cocaine or opiates in her system, the Cook County medical examiner's office said Tuesday, and police said her death is still a mystery.
Police believe the Dec. 9 death of Emily Foley Mutz, 50, may have been an accident or a suicide, but they are waiting for additional toxicology results, which could take another month, said Winnetka Deputy Police Chief Eric Bennett.

"We may never know," Bennett said.

Mutz's family last saw her the morning of Dec. 8 before she left for the Metra station in Fox River Grove, her husband, Gregory Mutz, said last month. She was on her way to DePaul University in Chicago, where she was in her first year of law school.

Her husband could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Police handed out photos of Mutz at the Hubbard Woods train station in Winnetka, sent a diver into the lake and interviewed a man she spoke with hours before she drowned.

Police have not turned up any conclusive information about what happened to Mutz, but they are pursuing the case, Bennett said.

Mutz's laptop computer, cell phone and wallet have not been found, Bennett said. Police recently sent a letter to homeowners along the lakeshore, instructing them not to touch them if they're found and to call police, he said.

Mutz, a mother of seven, grew up in Winnetka and attended New Trier High School, her husband said. She was going to law school to become a family attorney, her husband said.






go to bottom
Post Comment


01/20/10 11:00 PM #1 EDIT DELETE
Catherine Cherry (Rousey)

I miss you everyday. No one will ever take your place.
KateBuddy

05/23/10 02:52 PM #2 EDIT DELETE
Noel Brooks

Mr. Rocky always referred to you as "Miss Em", like something right out of Little Women. That made me smile, like you made me smile. I remember standing on my head in the hallway, feet up against the lockers, playing "Oh Susannah" for you on the harmonica with no hands. I hope you knew I wasn't going to do that just for anybody, you know...And the time when you drew daisies around the edge of my black hightop sneakers, and your name...did you know I stopped wearing them to preserve your fancy artwork? Thank you for your letters after I moved out East, (do you remember telling me to look up a girl in school in Virginia you had recently met in Europe? Lorraine was smart and pretty, like you) I often wondered what happened to you through the years, and I can't tell you how deeply sad I am to hear that you left us a few years ago. You were a nice person, and a good friend to me. I will miss you, Miss Em. Rest in peace.


06/10/10 01:07 AM #3 EDIT DELETE
Jennifer Schlueter (Spinney)

Still miss Em everyday...She was my daughter's Godmother and I her first born son's Godmother...I miss her often...Love all of my dear friends who continue to remember her fondly Such a loss Love you Em and always will...You were a dear and special friend!!!