Sheriff Continues Search for Man Missing Since 2007

DuPage County Sheriff’s detectives are seeking the public’s assistance in their investigation into finding a man who went missing in unincorporated West Chicago six years ago, Sheriff John Zaruba said in a statement Thursday.

John Spira, 51, was last seen at about 7 p.m. February 23, 2007 at Universal Cable Construction in Unincorporated West Chicago, a business he co-owns with David Stubben, according to a news release from the sheriff's office.

Spira and Stubben were the last two employees at Universal Cable Construction that evening. Spira and a friend planned to meet at a restaurant in Oak Brook at 8:30 p.m., but Spira never showed and no one heard from him.

Seven months after John’s disappearance, the Universal Cable Construction building burned down, according to the release.

I, of the Naperville-based Illinois Investigative Solutions Inc., to look into his disappearance.

Since Spira's disappearance McNeil has not given up hope in finding out what happened to her brother. IN 2011 she appealed to Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan to force the DuPage County Sheriff to open her missing brother's case file. McNeil, who grew up in Winnetka but now lives in Phoenix, first asked the DuPage County Sheriff's Department to share information about her brother's case on April 4, 2011. The department refused her request on the grounds that the records are still "part of an on-going investigative file."

At the time of his disappearance, Spira, an accomplished blues musician who went by the stage name "Chicago Johnny," was in the midst of a tumultuous split from his wife, Suzanne Spira, McNeil said. He and his wife were living in the same home throughout their divorce proceedings and the domestic arrangement was "hellish," McNeil said.

Spira's wife died in October 2010 and the business partner who, according to police reports, made statements to detectives about John Spira racking up "massive debt" and speculated about his possibly skipping town, has passed up numerous opportunities over the last several months to discuss Spira's disappearance.

Spira is 5-foot-8 and weighs about 160 pounds, with brown hair and hazel eyes. He was last seen wearing a black turtle neck sweater, blue jeans, black shoes and an olive green flight jacket, according to the release.

Spira’s case is an open and active investigation. To provide information, call the DuPage County Sheriff’s Office at (630) 407-2141.