A hit-and-run driver killed a 17-year-old boy who was walking along Interstate 88 just east of the Illinois-Iowa line on March 8, and police have been using every tool at their disposal to find the driver or the vehicle, the Quad City Times reports.
The boy, Emilio Perez, was an honor student and president of the French Club in his junior year at Willowbrook High School in Villa Park, in Chicago’s western suburbs. He wanted a car of his own, but his father was requiring him to make a brief presentation about the car market. His father, Al, said he might have been traveling to conduct further research about cars.
But as he was traveling west on I-88, his vehicle ran out of gas and he started walking. Forensic tests that came back in April showed he was not intoxicated at the time of his death. After about a half mile, the Quad City Times said, he was struck by a silver Chevrolet Tahoe, Suburban or Silverado, with a model year, most likely, between 1999 and 2002. The accident broke off the driver’s side heated mirror and damaged the headlight.
“Their meticulous and precise work is paying off and I hope it generates the lead we need,” the paper quoted Mr Perez as saying.
“The person that did this may have thought they hit a deer,” Mr Perez told the Quad City Times. “If they read about this somewhere, they may think, ‘I’ve got a silver vehicle,’ and they’ll come forward. Or, the person may have pulled off at a rest stop or at a convenience store and someone may have seen the vehicle and may have seen a license plate.”
Crime Stoppers of the Quad Cities is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the driver who struck the teen.