Brother of Naperville Homicide Victim Held In Florida Pending Extradition

After police began searching for him more than a month ago, Mark R. Lewis was arrested in Pensacola, FL, and is being held in the Escambia County jail pending extradition to Illinois to face a charge of identity theft, a Class 2 felony.

Lewis' sister, Cathleen Lewis, was found dead in her Naperville condo last month. He was listed as a missing person and was was named a person of interest in the identity theft and forgery to his mother's bank account.

 were notified Thursday at 7:52 p.m. that law enforcement officials had detained Lewis, 51, of Lakemoor, IL, according to a news release from Naperville Police Sgt. Gregg Bell. Bell did not say in the release why there was a delay in announcing Lewis’ arrest and he could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.

Lewis’ sister Cathleen was found dead in her home June 8, in an apparent homicide. She had sustained multiple head injuries due to blunt head trauma and an assault, according to the Will County Coroner’s Office.

Mark Lewis was named a person of interest in relation to identity theft. At the time, police said those charges stemmed from forgery and identity theft to Lewis’ mother’s bank account. He was listed as a missing person, according to Naperville police.

Law enforcement officials in Pensacola who were checking on a report of a suspicious person found Lewis in a business parking lot on Gulf Beach Highway in Pensacola in his green Ford Explorer, which still bore Illinois license plates, according to the news release. When questioned, Lewis said he was on his way to a local naval base. Escambia Sheriff’s deputies learned Lewis was wanted on warrants out of Naperville and placed him under arrest.

Lewis was taken into custody without incident and is being held at the Escambia County jail pending extradition back to Illinois, according to the news release.

Naperville police continue to investigate the homicide of Cathleen Lewis and ask anyone with information to contact the department.