Carroll County sheriff breaks silence about teen’s death, confirms sheriff’s employees who found body resigned

MOUNT CARROLL – It’s been more than three months since 18-year-old Jackson Kradle’s body was discovered in the early-morning hours of July 28 on a highway just north of town.

In the months after, authorities have released no information about Kradle’s death or the discovery of his body on Route 78.

But that changed Thursday night.

That’s when Carroll County Sheriff Ryan Kloepping broke his silence, taking to social media to explain how his office handled the case in the minutes, hours and days after two sheriff’s office employees found Kradle’s body. Kloepping also confirmed that the two employees – who were placed on administrative leave and represented by the police union – had turned in their resignations three days after they discovered the body and just before the time they knew they were going to be interrogated.

“Our office continues to be saddened by the death of Jackson, as we would with any death,” the sheriff said in a news release posted to the sheriff’s office’s Facebook page. “I have not previously issued a press release or statement to attempt to preserve the facts of this case for the purpose of the state’s investigation.”

The chain of events

Kloepping said Kradle’s death was reported shortly after 3:30 a.m. July 28. That’s when the Carroll County dispatch center received a nonemergency call from an off-duty employee reporting a body in the road on Route 78, south of Lowden Road. That location is less than 1 mile north of Mount Carroll’s city limits.

“At that time, an off-duty deputy sheriff and off-duty dispatcher, who is also a paramedic, were on scene,” Kloepping said. “Dispatch personnel then dispatched the on-duty deputy sheriff as well as a local city officer, as that officer was closer to the reported location.”

At 3:45 a.m., Illinois State Police said two troopers were responding to the scene. At 3:50 a.m., the Illinois State Police Crime Scene Services unit was contacted to respond to the scene, Kloepping said.

“It is common practice for Crime Scene Services to respond to all unattended or suspicious deaths within Carroll County,” he said. “Their staff has proper training, knowledge and equipment to handle these types of cases.”

The sheriff said that when the on-duty deputy arrived at the scene, they were told that the reporting party already had been released from the scene.

“Our department command staff was also contacted to respond to the scene,” Kloepping said. That team includes the sheriff, chief deputy and detective. The Carroll County coroner was contacted at 5:14 a.m. to respond to the scene. At that time, Crime Scene Services was still processing the scene, which Is a lengthy process, to ensure the scene Is properly documented and any possible evidence can be recovered, Kloepping said.

He said there was no identification on the body, and that staff members at the scene were not aware of the teen’s identity. On-scene personnel suggested a possible identity, Kloepping said, adding that the sheriff’s office followed up on the possible lead and determined it was inaccurate. At that time, the victim was removed from the scene by the coroner’s office, and Crime Scene Services completed its duties.

Kloepping said he contacted the Mount Carroll fire chief, who responded to the scene to wash down the road. At that time, the road was opened to traffic. Sheriff’s office staff members went to the funeral home to meet with the coroner. The main focus at that time was to determine who the victim was so proper notification could be made to the family, Kloepping said.

Additional law enforcement resources responded from Rockford with equipment that could assist with identifying the victim. While at the funeral home, a call was received reporting a motor vehicle accident, Kloepping said. He said sheriff’s office staff members responded to the incident to determine whether it had any possible connection to the Kradle investigation. It eventually was determined that the new incident was not related, Kloepping said.

“Shortly thereafter, our office was able to make a positive identification of Jackson,” Kloepping said. “At that time, | personally went to the residence of his father and the residence of his mother and made notification. My staff did ask questions of others present to hopefully assist with the investigation. After departing the families’ residences, our command staff met back at the initial scene on Illinois Route 78 to discuss how we would proceed with this investigation.”

He said the next steps involved interviewing the two sheriff’s office staff members who had reported the body’s discovery.

“Due to the possible conflict of interest, I then made a call to the Illinois State Police and requested that their investigation unit handle this case,” Kloepping said. “Within one hour, they had multiple investigators at our office. We provided them with the details of the case and asked for them to handle this Incident throughout the remainder of the investigation.”

On July 29, sheriff’s office command staff met with the two employees. They were placed on administrative leave and given their notice of an internal investigation, Kloepping said, further explaining that as members of the Fraternal Order of Police Labor Council, they “are afforded certain rights” and were given a meeting time in 48 hours for an interrogation.

“This procedure follows the guidelines by the Fraternal Order of Police Labor Council and allows them proper time to have representation, if so desired,” he said. “On July 31, just prior to the interrogation, both employees resigned from their positions with our agency.”

Kloepping said he is eager for a resolution to the case, which Is now being reviewed by the Illinois State Appellate Prosecutor’s Office.

“I am disappointed with the amount of time that it is taking, but I do expect the prosecutor to examine the facts and bring forth a resolution,” Kloepping said. “Any crimes committed should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”