Questions remain over the death of a longtime Moline teacher found dead along Interstate 88 near Dixon in November.
Lee Catlin, 65, was found November 13, 2013 near an overpass on the highway near Hoyle Road.
Illinois State Police were notified by a truck driver and another motorist about a man in distress, 12 hours before Catlin was found dead, according to 9-1-1 tapes obtained by Sauk Valley Media and shared with WQAD-TV.
The calls were made 16 minutes apart.
"There's a guy laying alongside Interstate 88 about the 51 and-a-half mile marker. Right by the overpass. He's waving his arms back and forth," said truck driver Ray Specht who made the first emergency call around 8:24 p.m. on November 12.
"I'm in a semi and I see with my headlights, he's laying alongside right by that overpass," Specht relayed to a state police dispatcher. "I don't know what his problem is. I didn't stop. There's too many weird things going on now a days," he said.
The 9-1-1 operator told the caller she would send a trooper to check on it.
At 8:40 p.m., a man named Bob Brouch phoned in a similar sighting.
"There is a man lying on the shoulder waving his arms. No car around," Brouch reported.
"We've already got that call, sir. We've got somebody en route," the Lee County dispatcher said, knowing state police were aware of the prior call.
State Police spokesperson Monique Bond said Tuesday, December 10 that a trooper did respond that night, but "when we responded, we didn't see anyone."
Bond said a death investigation is underway, but an internal investigation was not warranted because a trooper was dispatched to the area.
Catlin was discovered dead near the overpass 12 hours after those 9-1-1 calls were made.
The Lee County Coroner's Office says it is still waiting for lab results to confirm the cause of death for the veteran educator.