Jeremy Chappelear

In the small, close-knit community of Hillsboro, Illinois, Jeremy Chappelear was known to his loved ones as a young man with a dual nature. His mother, Peggy “Bunni” Lippard, remembered that her 20-year-old son thought of himself as a redneck and a rebel. But beneath that exterior, she saw a big kid at heart who was kind to everyone, loved children, and never met a stranger. Friends and family affectionately called him "Chappy," a friendly nickname for a young man whose life was cut tragically short, leaving behind a void and a mystery that has haunted his rural community for decades.

In the early hours of Saturday, April 25, 1998, Jeremy was at a farmhouse party in the countryside near Donnellson, Illinois. He was last seen there around 2:00 a.m. What happened in the next few hours remains the central question in his unsolved death. The party was about two miles from where his body would later be found, and roughly ten miles from his home near the Hillsboro airport. Police initially theorized he may have been making the long walk home when he was killed.

At approximately 5:25 a.m., a fisherman heading toward Coffeen Lake made a grim discovery on a quiet country road. The body of Jeremy Chappelear was lying on Buckeye Trail, about 200 feet south of 4th Avenue, in a rural area of Montgomery County. The official cause of death was determined to be from injuries sustained by being struck or run over by a vehicle. His death was classified as a hit-and-run, but the driver and the vehicle have never been identified.

From the beginning, Jeremy’s family has questioned the official narrative. They do not believe his death was a simple, tragic accident. His mother has stated that the route where he was found was not the way he would have walked home. The family’s belief is that a confrontation at the party may have led to his death. According to Lippard, her son had told some people to leave the gathering. They suspect that this disagreement led to him being ambushed after he left. In the family's view, Jeremy was beaten, and then left on Buckeye Trail where he was subsequently hit by a northbound vehicle. "We believe Jeremy was beaten, and he may or may not have been alive at the time he was run over," his mother explained.

However, in 1998, the Montgomery County coroner reported that an autopsy did not reveal any suspicious injuries to support the theory of a prior assault. The autopsy did show that Jeremy's blood-alcohol level was 0.16, twice the legal limit for driving at the time. This conflict between the family's suspicions and the initial findings has left a cloud of uncertainty over the case.

The Illinois State Police District 18 has kept the case open, treating it as a cold case homicide. Over the years, they have periodically re-issued calls for public assistance, especially around the anniversary of Jeremy's death. In 2017, Master Sergeant Chris Hoffstot confirmed that investigators had not ruled anything out. "Nineteen years is a long time to go without closure," he said. "We hope we can help bring that to them." Special Agent Pat McGuire has also been a point of contact for the case, urging anyone with information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, to come forward.

For Jeremy's family, the years have not eased the pain or the quest for truth. They live with the daily agony of not knowing what truly happened to their son. "Whoever did this to Jeremy, they did more than just take his life, they also took the lives of his parents, brother, grandparents, aunt, uncle, cousin, nephews and all his friends," Lippard said. Her plea is for answers that might bring some measure of peace. "While we will never have complete closure, at least we can maybe have some questions answered that we haven’t had answered for 19 years."

As of a June 2021 report, Jeremy Chappelear's case remains an active, unsolved investigation. The Illinois State Police continues to seek tips from the public. A reward of up to $5,000 is available through Crime Stoppers for any information that leads to an arrest and prosecution in the case. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Illinois State Police or to leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 1-866-371-8477 or 1-800-352-0136.