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Tri-County Press April 26, 2018 Volume 159, Number xx - $1.00
Track Victory
Spring is Here!
Byron Bar Destroyed
Forreston-Polo boys track team wins Friday at Rock Falls Invite. 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 and double homicide By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com 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-yearold 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
Maggie and Amos Meyer
Crime Stoppers at 888-2284488.
Donation gives pets a better chance at surviving a fire By Zach Arbogast zarbogast@oglecounty news.com Polo pets can breath easier knowing the fire department has another tool for their safety. The Polo Fire Department received four pet oxygen mask kits April 13, donated by Moline-based Invisible Fence of the Quad Cities. The masks, specifically build to fit around the snouts of pets, come with a 22 millimeter hose barb adapter on the inlet side. They can be plugged into both oxygen machines or bag valve mask resuscitators, at which point they deliver oxygen to pets that have suffered from smoke inhalation in the case of a fire. Dual vents on the sides allow unrestricted inhalation and exhalation. Each kit contains small, medium, and large masks, along with a chart of oxygen flow rates per animal size. Mark Pellini, Polo Firefighter and EMT, said the kits are another valuable tool at the station’s disposal. They’re another tool in our toolbox to assist us in the efforts of rescuing a pet,” said Pellini. “When we come
across any pet suffering from smoke inhalation, we now have a way of getting them aid before they get to a vet.” Keeley Meyer, probationary firefighter and veterinary technician at Polo Animal Hospital, learned about Project Breathe a week prior, and took initiative in requesting a mask for each fire engine. “Animals are kind of my thing; they’re like my babies,” said Meyer. “I’d be devastated if something happened to them in a fire, and I’d be happy if I knew my local fire department had something that could help.” Aside from the raw function of the masks, Meyer said having the kits adds a layer of reassurance to the public that their pets will be in good hands, and that they don’t need to try and launch personal rescues. “When animals get scared, they tend to hide, and we don’t want the owners running back in after them,” said Meyer. “That’s what we’re here for, to get them out.” The donations come from Invisible Fence’s “Project Breathe” initiation, which seeks the ambition of getting kits in fire stations throughout the U.S. and Canada. The project started in 2012,
Polo Firefighter and EMT Mark Pellini (left) holds his German Shepard mix, Sophie, as she helps demonstrate a pet mask, donated by Invisible Fence of Quad Cities. Phil Vroman (right), owner of Invisible Fence, shows how the mask goes on. Photo by Zach Arbogast.
but has picked up significantly within the last year, having donated more than 20,000 kits. A press release from
Invisible Fence states that, although an official statistic is not kept by the U.S. Fire Administration, it is estimated
that 40,000 to 150,000 pets die each year in fires — mostly because of smoke inhalation. The release goes on to
say that more than 180 cases have been reported of pet lives being saved through the masks.
Marc Mongan takes plea deal in boating death By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com 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.
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Prior to the announcing the 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.
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B6-B10 Entertainment, A6 Library News, A3
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.” Swaziek said he would have preferred the case would have been decided by a jury. “We would like the maximum penalties,” he said. “This has greatly affected our family and Megan’s kids. There should be consequences.” Wells was the mother of three young children.
Marriage Licenses, A4 Polo Police, A2 Public Voice, A7 Property Transfers, B4
Marc Mongan
Neal said Mongan could be sentenced to up to three years in the Illinois Department of Corrections with a year of mandatory supervised release, and fined up to $25,000. “When I was first assigned this case and I reviewed the evidence,
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it was my opinion that this case warranted a felony conviction,” Neal said after the hearing. “This defendant will now have a felony conviction.” Tess spoke briefly with the press after the hearing. Turn to A3
Deaths, B5 June L. Andrew Brian R. Horton