The body of a South Side pastor remembered as “always encouraging” and “always trying to help the least of us” was found Tuesday in the Des Plaines River in Rockdale, according to Will County authorities.
Officials located Rev. Warren Beard, 53, of Chicago, inside his car about 150 yards west of Brandon Road in the southwest suburb, according to the Will County coroner’s office. The coroner’s office scheduled an autopsy for Wednesday.
Beard, an assistant pastor at New Israelite Missionary Baptist Church in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood, was last seen June 2 in Joliet. The Rockdale Fire Protection located his Honda HR-V submerged in about eight feet of water Tuesday afternoon, officials said at an evening news conference.
Beard was pronounced dead at 6:20 p.m. Officials said there was no indication of foul play.
Video footage from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from July 2 showed Beard’s black Honda driving off of Brandon Road bridge into the river, Rockdale Deputy Police Chief Robert Baikie said. The bridge has been closed to vehicle traffic since last September for repairs, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation.
Baikie said it was difficult to locate the vehicle due to murky water and heavy traffic from barges, and that Beard was the only person in the car.
A spokesperson for the Chicago police, who are leading the investigation, said Wednesday evening that there are no updates in the case.
Beard, a father of five, worked at the South Side church for six years. He was also the regional director of facilities at Preservation of Affordable Housing.
Chenier Alston, a senior pastor and Beard’s colleague, called Beard’s death a “devastating loss.” Alston said he spoke to Beard over the phone on June 2 before he went missing, and they traded “I love you.”
“I can’t even put into words how painful it is,” he said. “We lost a man who loved his wife, loved his children, loved his family, a man who loved God with everything in him, a man who was passionate about his faith.”
