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By Giulia Carbonaro
Senior Reporter
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The body of 10-year-old Iliana "Lily" Peters, the Wisconsin girl who had been reported missing by her father on Sunday evening, was found on Monday morning by Chippewa Falls Police not far from where she was last seen.
The girl's father reported that his daughter was missing around 9 p.m. on April 24. He told police Lily had not returned home from a visit to her aunt's house in the 400 block of N. Grove St., which was a five-minute walk from her family's home.
On Saturday evening, police officers learned that a bicycle believed to belong to the girl had been found in the woods near a walking trail by the parking lot of Leinenkugel's brewery, according to Chippewa Falls Police Chief Matthew Kelm, who gave a press conference with updates on the case on Monday.
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K9 teams from the Chippewa County Sheriff's Department and the Lake Hallie Police Department searched for the missing child on Sunday night. The Chippewa County's Sheriff Department's drone was also used to search the wooded area surrounding the walking trail.
The body of the girl, a fourth grader at Parkview Elementary, was found on Monday morning at 9:15 a.m. in a wooded area near Duncan Creek Trail, Chippewa Falls, according to Kelm.
Kelm said the case is now being treated as a homicide investigation. Nobody is in custody as a suspect at this time, said Kelm, but officers continue to follow "multiple leads."
"The simple fact is that we have not made an arrest in this case, so the suspect is still at large," Kelm concluded.
Police did not disclose any details about how the girl died or whether any evidence was found where her body was discovered or its surroundings.
Anyone with information is encouraged to get in contact with Chippewa Falls Police by calling 1-800-263-5906.
The announcement of the discovery of Lily's body on Facebook by Chippewa Falls Police was met with an outpouring of grief and disbelief from social media users and residents of Chippewa Falls, who also expressed their anger about not been informed of the case earlier.
A press release by Chippewa Falls Police shared on Facebook on Monday said the case did not meet the criteria to raise an Amber alert, a message distributed by a child abduction alert system asking the public for help in finding missing and abducted children.
Many on Facebook also criticized the police's decision not to raise an Amber alert in connection to Lily's disappearance.
A vigil for Peters was held by the mourning Chippewa Falls community on Monday night.
The Chippewa Falls Area Unified School District (CFAUSD) said on Facebook that the school district is "working closely with the police."
A letter was shared by the CFAUSD with the families of students attending the district school, offering support to parents and children affected by the case.
Chippewa Falls Police is being assisted by the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation, the Wisconsin State Crime Lab and others in the investigation into Lily's death.
Another press conference is expected to be held at 5 p.m. CT on Tuesday.
Update, 04/26/22 9:50 a.m. ET: This story was updated to provide more context on the case.
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