Overview
- A Will County grand jury returned a sealed first-degree murder indictment on Dec. 9, 2025, exactly 37 years after Joan Bernal was last seen.
- Gilbert T. Bernal Sr. was arrested Dec. 11 at his home in Flint, Michigan, extradited to Illinois, and appeared in court Monday in Joliet.
- A detention hearing is set for Jan. 12, with prosecutors asking that Bernal remain jailed pending trial.
- Investigators say a witness reported Bernal assaulted his wife inside their Joliet home on Dec. 9, 1988 and dragged her behind the house.
- Bernal later reported her missing, claiming he left her at a bus stop in Oklahoma; her body has never been found, and the case drew renewed attention after coverage by the TV show Cold Justice.