Records and documents reveal details of the initial response to Jackson Kradle’s death

CARROLL Co., Ill. (KWQC) – New details are being released about how 18-year-old Jackson Kradle of Mt. Carroll was found dead on a road July morning.

Through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) records request, KWQC obtained never-before-heard phone calls and never-before-seen documents related to the case.

On Saturday, Carroll County Coroner Matthew Jones said Kradle died of blunt trauma to the head as a result of a car crash with a pedestrian.

In never-before-heard phone calls to Carroll County’s non-emergency line, dispatch shows two sheriff’s office deputies reported Kradle on the side of the road.

In this report, TV6 has decided not to disclose the names of the employees as no charges have been filed against them.

TV6 refers to the off-duty deputy, a man, as “Employee 1” and the off-duty dispatcher and paramedic, a woman, as “Employee 2.”

The calls

It started around 3:30 a.m. on July 28 when Employee 1 used a non-emergency number to the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office to report that he and Employee 2 had found a body on Illinois Route 78 north of downtown Mt. Carroll had discovered. Note: In all of these calls there are graphic details about the condition of the body.

According to Sheriff Ryan Kloepping’s call log, Kloepping received an approximately two-minute call from an unknown number around 3:32 a.m. the morning Kradle was found.

In a Broadcastify recording, county police could be heard announcing on the radio around 3:33 a.m. that a body had been reported at Highway 78 and Lowden Road, and the caller added that there was blood and brain matter there be.

At approximately 3:40 a.m., county dispatch received a call from Illinois State Police on a non-emergency number asking if the county needed assistance and seeking additional details about the incident.

Then, at approximately 3:52 a.m., state police again called the county dispatcher and the state asked the county dispatcher questions about whether an ambulance/emergency medical service or the coroner would be dispatched to the scene.

In that call, state police told the county dispatcher that two troopers, who were south of Sterling at the time, were en route to the scene where the body was found.

According to Google Maps, the drive from Sterling to Mt Carroll is about 31 miles.

An on-duty deputy and a city officer who were closer to the scene were dispatched, according to a media release from Sheriff Ryan Kloepping. By the time the on-duty deputy arrived at the scene, the employees who found the body had already been cleared to leave.

According to a records request from Mt Carroll police, the camera in her patrol car was not working when her officer responded to the scene.

Sheriff Kloepping said the coroner was contacted at 5.14am while detectives were still examining the crime scene for possible evidence.

The timing of what happened next remains unclear, but Sheriff Kloepping says the coroner removed Kradle’s body before calling Mt. Carroll Fire Chief Marty Hockman to conduct a roadway washdown around Illinois Route 78 to be reopened to traffic.

The investigation

The following day, July 29, Employee 1 and Employee 2 were informed by Sheriff Kloepping that both were the subject of an internal investigation regarding their involvement in the discovery of the body. They were also placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

The release added that both are also the subject of an official Illinois State Police investigation into Kradle’s death.

Part of the email sent to the two employees contains the following:

“The purpose of this leave is to allow the county to investigate this incident with minimal disruption to the workplace and to determine whether disciplinary action, up to and including termination, may be necessary.”

The message to both employees also states why the employees were investigated:

• Illinois vehicle code violations related to the death of Jackson Kradle.
• Violations of the Illinois Compiled Statutes in connection with the death of Jackson Kradle.
• Inappropriate Behavior: Behavior that negatively impacts the department.
• Conduct that brings the officer into disrepute as a member of the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office or interferes with the operation or efficiency of the department or deputy.

The notice provides further details regarding the purpose of the investigation against both employees:

“This investigation seeks to establish and investigate the facts and circumstances surrounding your activities during the evening hours of July 27 and the early morning hours of July 28 at the time of this incident. Another aspect of the investigation will focus on whether your conduct during the said incident violated any rules or regulations, policies or procedures, general or special orders or instructions of the Carroll County Sheriff’s Department.”

Both employees were scheduled to be questioned on the afternoon of July 31, after being given 48 hours to consult with a union representative.

The morning before their respective scheduled interviews, Employee 1 and Employee 2 informed Sheriff Kloepping that they were resigning from their positions, effective immediately.

What happened next?

On August 5, Illinois State Police Special Agent Matt Kipping said a “person of interest” had been identified in the case but was not being named at this time.

Then on September 6, in response to a FOIA request from TV6, Sheriff Kloepping released the employment dates for Employee 1 and Employee 2, stating that both had terminated their employment with the Sheriff’s Office on July 31.

In response to another FOIA request from TV6, on Oct. 25, Sheriff Kloepping shared recordings of all 911 calls made from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. the night Kradle died. None of these six recordings said anything about the discovery of a body, which we later learned was because the body was not reported via an emergency call service.

On Oct. 28, Kradle’s father, Joshua Sisler, told TV6 he hadn’t heard from the Illinois State Police in “a few months.”

On November 6, Sheriff Kloepping responded to a third TV6 FOIA request as follows:

• Recordings of all incoming 911 calls from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. the morning Kradle’s body was found.
• Copies of all internal county emails sent to county employees in the three days following Kradle’s death, July 28-31, that mention the names of Employee 1 and Employee 2.
• Logs of all calls to and from Sheriff Kloepping’s work phone from 3 a.m. to 12 p.m. the day Kradle died.

On November 7, Sheriff Kloepping sent a statement outlining the actions the sheriff’s office took the morning Kradle’s body was found and during the subsequent investigation.

When TV6 asked Nov. 8 whether Employee 1 and Employee 2 were considered suspects in their investigation, Illinois State Police declined to answer. A representative said the investigation has been turned over to the appellate attorney’s office in Springfield, Illinois.

Then, on November 9, the coroner told TV6 that Kradle’s cause of death was blunt trauma to the head as a result of a car accident with a pedestrian. An inquest is scheduled for December 13 to determine the manner of death. The coroner stated that both the manner and cause of death were important. He also said it was important in determining how witnesses and evidence would be presented to a jury.

As of Monday, investigators have not named any suspects.

This is a developing story and TV6 will provide updates on air and online as they become available.

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