Nobel Prize winner Ei-ichi Negishi, 82, was transported to a local hospital for treatment after he was spotted walking near Rockford, Illinois, at 5 a.m. on Tuesday, the Ogle County Sheriff's Department officials said in a written statement.

Deputies later found the couple's car and the body of his wife, Sumire Negishi, at the nearby Ochard Hills Landfill, the sheriff's department said. Rockford is about 100 miles west of Chicago.