PORTAGE PARK — The former owner of Regulus Coffee House in Portage Park was arrested Thursday and charged with murder in connection with the death of his wife, the co-owner of the popular cafe in the Irving Austin Business District, authorities said.
Brent Bogseth, who moved to Grand Junction, Mich., with his family after the cafe at 6032 W. Irving Park Road closed last year, was arrested Thursday in Chicago after Michigan authorities charged him with murdering his wife, Kimberly Allison Bogseth, police said.
Brent Bogseth will be extradited to Michigan, police said.
Brent and Kimberly Bogseth, who were high school sweethearts at Taft High School, had an 18-month-old son, Gage, who is now in the care of Michigan authorities, family friends said.
Kimberly Bogseth's body was discovered Wednesday in a rural area after she was reported missing Sept. 1.
Heather Cherone says much of the drama played out on Facebook:
Portage Park residents who knew the Bogseths expressed shock and sorrow Thursday, including former Ald. Tim Cullerton (38th), who said he has known Brent Bogseth's parents for decades.
"The entire situation is most disconcerting for all of us who knew Kimberly," Cullerton said. "This is a terrible chain of events. I'm just thinking of the baby. I'm so sad for that little guy."
Joe Basilone, who helped work to revitalize the western edge of Portage Park with Bogseth and took over Regulus' storefront after it closed and transformed it into the Perkolator Cafe, said he was stunned.
"It is very disturbing to all of us in the neighborhood," Basilone said. "It is super tragic, and totally out of left field."
Like many who knew the Bogseths, Basilone followed the search for Kimberly Bogseth during the last several days via social media after a series of Facebook posts by Brent Bogseth and other friends of the couple went viral on Reddit with allegations of infidelity by both Bogseths.
Posts were made on Kimberly Bogseth's Facebook page after she was reported missing, sparking an attempt by Internet sleuths to determine whether she had left her family willingly or been harmed.
Ellen Sullivan, who attended Taft with Brent and Kimberly Bogseth and remained close with the couple, said Brent Bogseth told his wife's friends and family that she left him and their son to move to California.
"Brent told everyone she left the family," Sullivan said. "But that story didn't add up."
Concerned, Sullivan and Kimberly Bogseth's family launched an effort to find her, starting a Facebook page and calling hospitals and truck stops looking for her.
"We're all very shaken," Sullivan said. "What has happened is unimaginably cruel to Gage."
Sullivan said she was devastated to hear her friend was dead, and her friend's husband arrested.
"Kim was a free spirit with the mouth of a sailor," Sullivan said, laughing. "She loved her son. That's how we want her to be remembered. She was a great mother."
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