STERLING, Ill. — It has been over three months since the body of 18-year-old Jackson Kradle was found alongside Illinois Route 78 near Mount Carroll. Since that day, family and friends have rallied together to demand answers as to what happened the morning of July 28.
For the first time since his body was discovered, the Carroll County Sheriff's Office has released an official statement on the case. It came in a Facebook post on Thursday, Nov. 7.
"Why didn't this happen a few days after the accident? Why did it take so long?" Kradle's cousin Jason Houston said.
According to the statement, an off-duty employee called the non-emergency line reporting a body on the side of the road just after 3:30 a.m. that Sunday morning. A deputy sheriff and dispatcher, both off-duty, were on the scene.
After Kradle's body was identified and his parents were informed, command staff said they discussed how to proceed with the investigation. As part of this, law enforcement officials decided to interview the two off-duty staff members who reported the incident. Carroll County Sheriff Ryan Kloepping said he called Illinois State Police to request their office take the investigation due to a potential conflict of interest.
However, these details were not news to Kradle's family.
"Everybody already knew everything that was in the press release, so I don't think anybody was really surprised at what came out," Houston said.
Houston said that he believes the two employees set to be interviewed about Kradle's death had been at a retirement party earlier in the evening where they had been drinking. The names of those people have not been confirmed.
Kradle's father, Joshua Sisler, said more information needs to come out, adding that communication between the family and law enforcement has been far and few between.
"Name of the person of interest, which would be nice and maybe some police reports so we can actually see what they feel like happened that night," he said. "It's been in the prosecutor's hands for a good month and we haven't heard anything. They don't call or say anything."
According to the statement, command staff then met with the two employees who reported Kradle's body the next day, which was Monday, July 29. Both were placed on administrative leave, informed they were under an internal investigation and told they would be interrogated in 48 hours. According to Kloepping, both employees resigned on Wednesday, July 31, before that internal interview could take place.
Sisler said the people of Carroll County aren't slowing down their push for more answers.
"That's been the biggest thing helping us get through this time," he said. "The amount of support from his friends and everybody has been amazing."
ISP has completed its investigation and the case now is in the hands of the Illinois State Appellate Prosecutor's Office. That office did not respond to a request for a timeline on when charges could be filed.
You can find the sheriff's entire statement by clicking here.