Monday, Nov. 20, 2006

The deaths of two little boys remain a mystery

HIGHLAND - Zachary Iberg was the first to die. Two years later, his brother Dillan Iberg died.

Despite a lengthy investigation by some of the nation's top forensic experts and the Illinois State Police, the deaths remain a mystery.

Vincent and Chere Iberg had three sons. Joey, the oldest, is now 12; Dillan, who died on Nov. 18, 2003, when he was 4; and Zachary, who died on Oct. 22, 2001, when he was 11 months old.

Zachary and Dillan died in hospital emergency rooms after becoming unconscious while in the care of their mother, Chere Iberg, according to investigative reports.

The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services assigned a child protective worker to investigate the family about 20 months after Zachary died. An anonymous caller to the state child abuse hot line had alleged that Chere Iberg blackened Joey's eye, according to a DCFS report.

The state investigator found that Chere Iberg had injured Joey, then 9, according to the report.

Despite the finding of child abuse, the state took no action to remove either Joey or Dillan from the family's Bond County home.

Because Chere Iberg already was receiving mental health counseling through the county, the DCFS did not need to become involved, the investigator concluded.

"It's a mysterious case that's been open for a while," Bond County State's Attorney Chris Bauer said of the two boys' deaths. "We all want some answers."

A four-month investigation by the News-Democrat found critical errors by DCFS workers in child death cases between September 1998 and January 2005 that ended in the deaths of 53 children, according to investigations by the Office of the Inspector General.

However, the deaths of the Iberg children are not among them because their cases did not meet the criteria for a full investigation by the inspector general's office. Usually, a full probe is ordered only if caseworker error is suspected.

Instead, the agency conducted a limited investigation and issued a so-called child death summary, which provided some details about what was occurring in the Iberg home.

Chere Iberg referred questions to her attorney, Jim Drazen, of Troy, who did not respond to several requests for comment.

"If they found no medical reason for them to die, they should still be here," Vincent Iberg said of his youngest sons. "I just want justice for my two boys."

The Ibergs divorced in 2004. Vincent Iberg has custody of Joey, but Chere Iberg is fighting to get the boy back.

In court documents, Chere Iberg stated that she is a fit mother for Joey and should have full or joint custody. Currently, she can see him only under DCFS supervision, according to Bond County court documents.

Vincent Iberg wants to retain sole custody. In court papers, he maintains his son is at risk.

In an application for an emergency order of protection for himself and Joey, filed in November 2003, about 48 hours after Dillan died, Vincent Iberg wrote, "She (Chere) has ... put self-inflicting wounds on herself. She heard voices in her head that (told her) they were going to take over her body and kill me and Dillan in our sleep."

A judge quickly granted the order.

Second hotline call

In August 2003, the state child abuse hot line had received another call, this time about Dillan, according to the child death summary.

Because he had been taken to the hospital emergency room three times that month -- including twice in one week -- a suspicious hospital staffer made the call.

The DCFS issued a second finding of child abuse, although the report did not identify the abusers.

By this time in his short life, Dillan's situation had come to resemble what happened to his brother Zachary -- the boy would pass out and end up in the emergency room, only to have doctors find nothing wrong.

The child death summary stated that Zachary and Dillan made a combined seven trips to the emergency room after becoming unconscious, with their mother present each time.

Chere Iberg told investigators the boys had seizures or fell, according to an Illinois State Police report.

But before DCFS could take action to remove the boy from the home as a result of this second finding of child abuse, an ambulance rushed Dillan to the emergency room.

Doctors declared him dead on arrival.

Because two boys in the same family had now died under similar and unexplained circumstances, authorities sent tissue samples from Dillan to experts at the renowned Duke University Autopsy Laboratory in Durham, N.C.

But just as a Madison County medical examiner had been stumped as to what killed Zachary, the university experts failed to come up with a cause of death for Dillan.

Limited intervention

Shortly before Dillan died, the DCFS assigned a domestic helper, called a homemaker, to assist Chere Iberg. Part of the woman's duties were to serve as a nanny and help with any medical problems.

On Nov. 18, 2003, with the homemaker and Chere Iberg present in the home, Dillan had his fourth and final attack.

As with Dillan's three previous attacks, Chere Iberg reported that her son's "... body stiffened and relaxed and he fell asleep."

On the previous occasions when the boy passed out, Chere Iberg called 911 and rode with Dillan to the emergency room, according to the child death summary.

But this time, for reasons that are not contained in any reports or other records obtained by the newspaper, Chere Iberg did not call 911. Instead, she placed Dillan in bed.

Some time later, she noticed her son was not breathing, according to the investigative report. The homemaker attempted CPR. Joey ran next door and called 911. Vincent Iberg was at work at the time.

When paramedics arrived, they found Dillan in cardiac arrest.

Police are still investigating the boys' deaths. No arrests have been made.

Vincent Iberg said that while Joey may be too young to understand everything that has occurred, "He can't help but miss his brothers. What boy wouldn't?"

Contact reporter Beth Hundsdorfer at bundsdorfer@bnd.com and 239-2570 and George Pawlaczyk at gpawlaczyk@bnd.com and 239-2625.