A 60-year-old Pinegree Grove man has been charged with murder after the body of a man reported as missing was found in a residence in Hampshire Township.
On April 4, the Crystal Lake Police Department initiated an investigation into a subject reported missing from a residence in Crystal Lake. The investigation led to two search warrants being obtained for locations in Hampshire Township and Pinegree Grove, at which point the Crystal Lake Police Department reached out to the Kane County Investigations Division to work collaboratively on the execution of the search warrants.
On May 7, the Kane County Investigations Division responded to the 45W200 block of Illinois Route 72, located in Hampshire Township, in support of the Crystal Lake Police Department’s search warrant for the property. Concurrently, the team aided in executing a search warrant at the 600 block of N. Falls Circle in Pingree Grove.
The remains of 57-year-old James Cromwell, a resident of Crystal Lake, were discovered at the Hampshire Township property.
An autopsy by the Kane County Coroner’s office concluded that the preliminary cause of Mr. Cromwell’s death was a gunshot wound, and the preliminary manner of death was homocide.
Kane County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigators, alongside the Kane County Major Crimes Task Force Evidence Team, meticulously processed both scenes over several days, leading to the arrest of the subject.
The suspect is being detained in the Kane County jail after having been charged with following crimes:
- First-Degree Murder, Class M Felony, (3 counts)
- Aggravated Kidnapping, Class X Felony, (2 counts)
- Unlawful Possession of a Weapon by a Felon, Class 2 Felony, (2 counts)
- Unlawful Possession of Ammunition by a Felon, Class 2 Felony, (2 counts)
- Aggravated Unlawful Restraint, Class 3 Felony, (1 count)
- Concealment of Homicidal Death, Class 3 Felony, (1 count).
