A decade after a 13-year-old boy went lacking, a suspect has been arrested in his homicide | EUROtoday

A suspect has been arrested over the 2016 disappearance and homicide of 13-year-old Robert Bee, a case that has remained unsolved in Illinois for almost a decade.

Keith Brackett was taken into custody Wednesday morning and faces a number of counts of first-degree homicide, in line with the Pekin City Police Department. The arrest follows years of investigation into the loss of life of Bee, who vanished from his house on November 18, 2016.

According to a possible trigger affidavit, investigators targeted on Brackett after studying he maintained a detailed relationship with {the teenager} regardless of their age distinction.

Bee reportedly skipped faculty ceaselessly to spend time at Brackett’s residence, in line with authorities. While Brackett initially informed police he had final seen the boy throughout a gathering with Bee’s mom, Lisa, digital forensics and bodily proof later contradicted his account.

Bee’s skeletal stays have been found in July 2017 in a wooded space behind a property owned by Brackett’s aunt. An post-mortem decided the reason for loss of life was homicidal violence, doubtless brought on by asphyxiation.

Detectives discovered a number of forms of rope and tape on the website the place the stays have been recovered, later discovering matching supplies throughout a search of Brackett’s house.

According to the affidavit, digital information additionally allegedly positioned Brackett close to the crime scene a number of instances between the boy’s disappearance and the invention of his physique.

The affidavit additionally detailed a collection of web searches allegedly performed by Brackett, together with inquiries relating to how lengthy DNA stays on rope and what actions to take if named a suspect in a homicide investigation.

Brackett was finally present in Maine throughout a separate housebreaking investigation. Police consider he deliberate to flee the nation, however he was arrested at a playground and extradited to Illinois.

“The murder of a child is obviously going to be something that our community, our county and our citizens take great interest in,” Tazewell County State’s Attorney Kevin Johnson stated throughout a press briefing.

Johnson stated his workplace was restricted in what particulars could possibly be shared because the case proceeded by court docket.

Ash Patino, a filmmaker who produced a documentary on the disappearance, stated that Brackett had lengthy been an individual of curiosity because of his proximity to the sufferer.

“Robert Bee was way too young to be hanging out with somebody at that age,” Patino stated.

Brackett is at the moment being held in custody pending additional court docket proceedings.