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Streator residents hold vigil to remember boy killed 4 years ago
By Greg Stanmar
gregstanmar@insightbb.com
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STREATOR - With weather in the 70s Sunday, Dalton Mesarchik would have been planning his next fishing trip and what to plant in the garden, along with how to celebrate his upcoming 12th birthday, said family friend Jenny Richards.

Instead, she said, those who loved him held a vigil to mark the fourth anniversary of his death.

About 50 peopled gathered at the steps of Streator City Hall to offer prayers and sign a computer-created picture of what he would have looked like had he lived. The picture was produced by a law officer as a favor to Michelle Mesarchik, Dalton's mother.

"It never gets any better," Mesarchik said before the brief vigil.

Dalton Mesarchik, 7, was found dead four years ago today from a blow to the head from a small sledge-type hammer. He was found along the banks of the Vermilion River just south of Streator, several miles from where he was last seen waiting for a ride.

Richards choked back tears as she read a several-page narration of what Dalton would be doing if alive today.

"Maybe he would have had another perfect score" on a school test, as he did shortly before he disappeared, said Richards. "For 1,460 days he has been sorely missed."

Livingston County Sheriff Robert McCarty said law officers won't let up in the investigation until it is solved.

"We're never going to give up," McCarty said. Along with his department, Streator police and state police are also involved. A $50,000 reward is still being offered, he said.

Michelle Mesarchik praised the efforts of law officers but said state and national politicians need to enact tougher laws for people who abduct children. Authorities have never said whether the second-grader was the victim of a pedophile.

The case became national news again recently when authorities said they were looking for any connection between Mesarchik's death and a Missouri case, though little has been said lately about it. McCarty didn't have anything to add regarding the Missouri case.



How to help



If you have information about the March 26, 2003, murder of Dalton Mesarchik of Streator, the hammer used in the murder, or the location where Dalton’s body was found, contact the following agencies. Callers do not have to provide their name, just their information.

By phone

-- Illinois State Police Zone 5 investigations: 815 844 1500, Ext. 2321

-- Streator Crime Stoppers: 815-672-9000

By email

-- daltonm@isp.state.il.us

By postal mail

-- Illinois State Police, Zone 5 investigations, 800 S. Old Airport Road, Pontiac, IL 61764, Attn: Mesarchik case agent

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Reader comments on this story - 3 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

I agree, but would like to add- wrote on Mar 26, 2007 5:20 PM:

" I live near this area. I do believe that we deserve to know whether or not police suspect that this boy was a victim of a pedophile. Other children in the area are affected, or may have been affected by such a monster. Perhaps if the police were a little more forthcoming with more information, the public would have some answers that might crack this case. There IS a way to do things like this without bringing further pain to the families.....this is shameful that we the people feel as if finding this monster(s) has not been a high priority so far. "

Yep, wrote on Mar 26, 2007 2:50 PM:

" The person Z(or persons) who are responsible may think they got away with it. They could'nt be farther from the truth. There will be an opening in HELL, waitin just for em! "

why wrote on Mar 26, 2007 6:58 AM:

" i wonder why after 4 years they are no closer to finding out who did this horrible crime. they will pay in the end "
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