closed cases > Duncan and Jack Connolly-closed case

LeRoy police chief who refused Amber Alert for 2 boys is put on leave

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goinsfl:
Officials in Downstate town won't comment, and special meeting is set for Monday
By Stacy St. Clair | Tribune reporter
May 8, 2009

 
A Downstate police chief whose department initially rescinded an Amber Alert request for two missing boys later found dead has been placed on administrative leave.

No cause was given for the suspension. LeRoy Mayor Steve Dean has called a special meeting Monday for personnel matters.

Chief Gordon Beck and his officers have been criticized in recent weeks by resident Amy Leichtenberg, whose sons, Duncan and Jack, ages 9 and 7, were abducted by their father two months ago. They were found dead in a remote area of Putnam County three weeks later.

Their father, Michael Connolly, killed himself nearby.



Leichtenberg asked LeRoy police to issue an Amber Alert for the boys when they didn't return from their overnight visit with her ex-husband at 6 p.m. March 8. The department initially resisted the request and gave Connolly an hour's grace period because it was the first day of daylight-saving time, according to documents obtained by the Tribune.

LeRoy authorities eventually submitted an Amber request at 11:55 p.m. But when the state contacted LeRoy to verify the application, the department said it did not believe the boys' lives were threatened -- one of four key criteria for an alert.

Connolly, who had recently been laid off and was struggling financially, had a history of threatening suicide and had violated Leichtenberg's order of protection 56 times, according to police reports. LeRoy police, however, said they did not believe he would hurt the children.

"LeRoy police were not able to document any instances where Michael Connolly posed a threat to his children, only himself," Beck wrote last month.

As long as LeRoy authorities believed Connolly would not hurt his sons, the Illinois State Police could not issue an Amber Alert. The case was eventually turned over to the McLean County Sheriff's Department, which requested the alert at 8:23 p.m. Monday, more than 26 hours after Leichtenberg reported them missing.

LeRoy City Administrator Jeff Clawson and acting Chief Jason Williamson did not return calls.

Ald. Nancy Bentley said events in small-town LeRoy, which has about 3,500 residents, should not concern Chicago media. "We will handle our own," Bentley said.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-boys-killed-08-may08,0,1790263.story

Christina:
He should be placed on leave. This father who killed his kids violated the protective order over 56 times ! What is wrong with this picture..They do not take these types of violations seriously enough in moo. I hope that the mother has been able to find some sort of peace and bless her sons. This is just insane..

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