The parents of a woman who was found dead in the stairwell of a South Loop luxury high-rise last month have been granted a temporary order preventing their daughter’s husband from retrieving her remains, alleging in court documents a pattern of abusive behavior. The deceased woman was identified last week as 36-year-old Caitlin Tracey of New Buffalo, Michigan, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. The cause and manner of her death are still undetermined, pending an investigation by the Chicago Police Department, the office said.
In court documents, Tracey’s parents allege that her husband, Adam Beckerink, a tax attorney, physically and emotionally abused Tracey throughout their relationship. In a petition they filed in probate court in Berrien County, Michigan, which is where Tracey resided, her parents argued that “based on the circumstances surrounding the death along with the abusive history,” their family would “not be psychologically or emotionally capable in participating in any services that are handled and arranged by” Beckerink. Beckerink is currently facing two domestic violence charges in Berrien County for alleged physical attacks on Tracey in addition to felony charges including resisting and obstructing arrest.
On Thursday, the probate court judge in Berrien County set an emergency hearing date of Nov. 12 for Tracey’s parents’ petition for the authority to retrieve their daughter’s remains and arrange a burial. The same day,.
