Serving Ogle County since 1851
OREGON Republican Reporter
April 26, 2018 Volume 168, Number 20 - $1.00
Hawk Track Classic
Spring is Here!
Byron Bar Destroyed
OHS’ Landers-Loomis Field will host several top area track teams this Friday. B1
Check out our Spring Home & Garden pages A9, 10
The Cave, a bar & grill in downtown Byron, is destroyed by a fire. B3
Police still investigating arson, double homicide Benefit run is this Saturday in Chana By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecountynews.com
Maggie and Amos Meyer
Ogle County detectives are continuing to investigate an arson and double homicide that occurred in Byron a year and a half ago, but no arrests have been made. Lt. Brian Ketter, investigations commander for the Ogle County Sheriff’s Department, said Tuesday that he and his team are still following leads into the deaths of Margaret “Maggie” Meyer, 31, and her three-
year-old son, Amos, on Oct. 19, 2016. The second annual Infinity Run event, held in memory of the two by the Maggie & Amos Foundation, will be Saturday, April 28 at Chana Education Center in Chana with activities starting at 3 p.m. Meyer was a teacher at the Chana Education Center, and the goals of the foundation include helping to support educational grants for local teachers for classroom projects and libraries, and scholarships to support undergraduate and graduate students going into the field of special education. Meyer was found dead on a couch on the first floor of her burning home at 2020 N. Silverthorn Drive, and her
son Amos was pronounced dead a short time later at Rockford Memorial Hospital. “Officially it’s still an active investigation,” Ketter said. He said detectives are determined to solve the case, but declined to give further details. The fire was reported around 6:40 a.m. by Meyer’s ex-husband, Duane C. Meyer, 35, of Stillman Valley, who told officials he was there to pick up his son. The couple had been divorced about a month earlier. When firefighters arrived, smoke alarms were sounding, the house was filled with heavy smoke, and Duane Meyer and a Byron police officer were
on the lawn performing CPR on Amos, who had been in an upstairs bedroom. Amos and his father were taken to Rockford Memorial Hospital, where the little boy was pronounced dead. An autopsy at the Winnebago County Coroner’s office showed he died of smoke inhalation. Police have not released the cause of Meyer’s death or the fire started. A representative from the State Fire Marshal’s Office determined the fire was an arson while he was at the scene. Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call the Ogle County Sheriff’s Office at 815-732-2136 or Ogle Lee Crime Stoppers at 888-2284488.
Mongan takes plea deal in boating death By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com
The Super Dollar Store in downtown Oregon is closing and the building is for sale. Photo by Earleen Hinton
Oregon’s Super Dollar Store to close By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com Oregon’s Super Dollar Store is going out of business. “Sales are down, and we’re pursuing other interests,” said owner John Rosauer on Tuesday. “It’s time to turn the page and move onto another chapter.” He said he bought the store, at 312 W. Washington St. in Oregon’s downtown,
approximately 20 years ago. Rosauer and his sister Sherrie, both Oregon natives who now live in Belvidere, own Rosauer Ventures, Inc., which at one time included 11 Super Dollar Stores in Illinois and Iowa. Oregon store manager Debbie Wigginton, who has worked there for 12 years, said the store will not close immediately. “We’re not sure when it will close,” she said. “It’s going
to be several months. We’re thinking maybe in the fall.” The building is for sale or lease, and currently all merchandise is 10 percent off. Employees were informed last November that the closing was coming, Wigginton said. Besides Wigginton, who works full-time, the store has three part-time employees. Rosauer Ventures also owned the Super Dollar Store in downtown Dixon, which announced its closing last
November. That store officially locked its doors this month. According to an article in the Dixon Telegraph last Nov. 7, besides the Dixon store the Rosauers were closing two more of their stores, one at North Towne Mall in Rockford and another in Maquoketa, Iowa. Rosauer said they are deciding what to do with the remaining stores they own.
Black-eyed susan named city flower By Zach Arbogast zarbogast@oglecounty news.com The City of Oregon now has its own official flower. The city council voted unanimously Tuesday evening to adopt the black-eyed susan as the city flower. Chris Williams, a member of Oregon Together’s Beautification Committee and the wife of Mayor Ken
Williams, presented the committee’s recommendation March 13 to adopt the black-
In This Week’s Edition...
eyed susan. She said the flower “was chosen for its beauty, easy maintenance, and, being a perennial, it will propagate, expand, and come back every season.” The flowers will be planted around the welcome signs at the city limits. In another matter, the council voted unanimously to enter into a three-year contract with Azavar Government Solutions,
Church News A5 Classifieds, B6-B10 Entertainment, A6 Marriage Licenses, A4
a company that recovers lost funds meant for a municipality to collect. Thomas Fagan, senior analyst for Azaver, gave a presentation April 10 of the services the company provides, with interest in working with Oregon. Azavar conducts electronic audits on addresses as well as taxes and fees on utilities,
Oregon Library, A8 Oregon Police, B4 Public Voice, A7 Property Transfers, B4
Turn to A3
An Oregon man accepted a plea offer March 19 and pleaded guilty to the least serious of the several felonies he was charged with in the death of a Rockford woman in a boating accident two years ago. Marc Mongan, 47, pleaded guilty in Ogle County Court to reckless conduct causing great bodily harm, a Class 4 felony. He had been charged with seven felonies, including drunk driving, in the death of Megan Wells, 31, on June 24, 2016. The accident occurred on the Rock River three miles north of Oregon when the johnboat he was operating struck Wells as it went over the back of the pontoon boat she was riding in, throwing her overboard, investigators said. Special prosecutor David Neal, from the Illinois State’s Attorney’s Appellate Prosecutor’s office, read the charge which said Mongan was operating his boat “at a faster than reasonable speed” when the crash occurred and failed to “give way” to the pontoon boat. Defense attorney David Tess, Rochelle, said Mongan was pleading guilty to the one count and all others would be dismissed. The charges against Mongan included one count of aggravated driving while under the influence of alcohol, a Class 2 felony; three counts of reckless homicide, all class 3 felonies; and three counts of reckless conduct, all Class 4 felonies. Judge John Redington set Mongan’s sentencing for June 19. Jury selection for the trial had been set to begin on April 23. Prior to the announcing the
Sheriff’s Arrests, B4 Sports, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B3
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com
Marc Mongan is shown here in court April 19. Photo by Alex T. Paschal, Sauk Valley Media
plea deal, Tess filed a motion for a continuance of a 402 conference held on March 17. Attorneys for both sides then met with Redington in his chambers for 45 minutes, and then the attorneys and Mongan conferred for another 25 minutes outside the courtroom before announcing that the plea offer had been accepted. Attorney Cynthia Koroll, Rockford, who is representing Wells’ parents, David and Robin Swaziek, Loves Park, as crime victims, objected to the plea deal. “I can’t tell the state not to dismiss charges, and I can’t tell Mr. Mongan not to plead guilty,” Redington told her. He said the Swazieks and other family members will have an opportunity to give their impact statements at the sentencing hearing. Wells’ mother sobbed softly when Neal announced that Mongan would change his previously not guilty plea to guilty. After the hearing, Wells’ father spoke to the press. “It’s been such a tremendous journey. We always felt the cards were not dealt in our favor, but we kept fighting. We just wanted justice all along,” he said. “Today he pled guilty to a felony charge that he took her life. To hear him finally say ‘I’m guilty’ was bittersweet.” Turn to A2
Deaths, B5 June L. Andrew Brian R. Horton