This was the scene following the fire at McGeesville Road in Marion September 6, where Lisa Uzzle’s body was found.

Authorities still not releasing name of female victim

MARION—The secrecy surrounding a house fire that occurred in Marion in early September has yet to be explained, and many in and around Williamson County are wondering why.

Authorities will only state that the house fire, occurring on South McGeesville Road Sept. 6, is “suspicious” in nature, but will not commit to anything further.

Lending to the suspiciousness of the fire is the fact that the body of a female was found inside what remained of the house.

As of the end of September, authorities had not issued the identity of the female.

As inexplicable as that was, it was easy for the public to surmise the death of one Lisa Uzzle, despite the lack of obituary information on it. The house that burned belonged to her…and she had texted her daughter on the day of the fire, advising her that Uzzle and her boyfriend, Joe Abbott, were in the backyard of the location doing target practice.

Later that night, the fire consumed the house and much of the property including a vehicle. Early reports indicated that it appeared the fire had been set around the house, then of course burned the structure to the ground.

The house, Disclosure has learned, was either designed or built by Abbott, who has a construction company in Marion.

It remains unclear whether or not Abbott has been questioned about what was going on at the house earlier in the day (the target practice).

Disclosure was unable to contact Abbott for comment on deadline as regards any of the information gained during research for this article. Abbott is highly regarded in the community; he is a brother of Lily Abbott, whose development of material regarding possible tax fraud at the highest levels of Williamson County government has been the focus of many reports over the past year (and is included in this month’s page 15 article.)

Authorities have been to the scene of the house fire repeatedly, and for a few days following, even spent the night there in order to preserve it.

However, news about the matter has been scant; the most recent report came from the late Becky Malkovich in The Southern Illinoisan just days before her ultimately fatal heart attack.

In that report, it was mentioned that authorities are considering “the woman’s” (Uzzle’s) death “suspicious” and indicted that an autopsy had been performed on the body.

As well, the state fire marshal and Illinois State Police are involved in the investigation.

There was no response from either entity upon deadline, as well.