Case Of Teen's Death In Joliet Remains Unsolved
UPDATED 05/10/11 5:52 p.m.
JOLIET (CBS) -- It's been almost four years since a Joliet junior high school student was brutally murdered.
Now a young woman who helped raise her, is speaking out for the first time, CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli reports.
When you hear the roosters of an adjacent farm and see the lush greenery, the beauty of Pilcher Park is obvious. But four years ago this month, that beauty was forever changed.
Changed by a killer who shot 14-year-old Kekah Suggs to death and left her left her body next to a horse trail. She was found by two riders on horseback near U.S. 6 and Farrell Road.
"She didn't deserve it," said Detective Kevin Sepulveda of the Joliet Police Department. "Especially to end her life in such a brutal fashion and to be dumped so violently."
Kekah Suggs' sister, Savanna Rivers, wipes away tears and says she misses Kekah's smile. Rivers hopes someone will come forward with information about the last hours of Kekah's life.
"I don't want my sister to be forgotten," Rivers said.
Kekah Suggs was last seen leaving a party at Larkin Village Apartments in the 1000 block of Lois Place with two men and a woman on May 26, 2007. She was a student at the nearby Hufford Junior High School.
Det. Sepulveda believes there is a connection, saying those people at the apartment "know more than they are willing to share right now."
Rivers hopes a $10,000 reward will cause someone to come forward and help police catch a killer.
And Rivers had a direct message for that killer: "Why would you do something like that to her? She didn't deserve anything like that. She was a baby."
"I wish I could just see her and hug her and see her smile," said Rivers "I just miss her a lot."
Rivers was so distraught by what happened that she moved from Joliet and has yet to return.
She said she couldn't bear the thought that she could be face to face with her sister's killer and not even know it.
