Clinton County man broke hearts when he took roadside crosses but not the law, cops say
As she drives home from work as a physical therapist, Kristy Frey is saddened she no longer sees a small, wooden cross along her way.
The cross was erected at an intersection north of Breese in memory of her cousin, Tad Simmons, who died in a crash in 2011.
“When I would drive by his cross, it made me think of him, and then I think of good memories, which always made me feel better,” Frey said in email to the BND.
But this cross for Simmons and other roadside memorials were swiped by a 58-year-old Breese man who admitted to the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office that he took the memorials in mid-April. Acting Chief Deputy Dan Travous said even with the confession, the sheriff’s office could not file a charge because there’s no law against taking personal property left in a public easement.
The Breese man did not respond to cellphone messages and a Facebook message requesting comment. A landline was disconnected. Because he was not charged with a crime, the News-Democrat is not publishing his name.
A Clinton County Sheriff’s Department incident report stated the Breese man “responded with very colorful language” that he took four memorials. He also said he would file a complaint against the sheriff’s department “for harassment.”
Travous said the sheriff’s office consulted with the state’s attorney’s office to find whether the man could be cited and learned there was no crime with which he can be charged.
“As bad as it is, there wasn’t anything on the books that this gentleman did anything wrong,” Travous said.
The man told the sheriff’s department he did not want signs along roadways.
A representative from the office of Clinton County State’s Attorney John Hudspeth said Hudspeth had no comment on this case because it is his policy to not speak to reporters.
Apology is not enough
Family members of those memorialized on the crosses are upset that the memorials were taken and they want officials to pass a law or ordinance that would ban destruction or removal of a memorial for a deceased person.
“That day when I drove by the spot where his cross was and saw nothing, my heart immediately dropped,” Frey said. “I drove home in tears that day. What right does any person have to remove something so dear to us, especially when it was doing no harm where it was located and does not belong to him?”
Kristy Frey’s brother, Kevin Frey of Highland, also was upset about the cross for Simmons being removed from the intersection of Jamestown Road and Old State Road north of Breese.
The son of the Clinton County man who admitted to taking the memorials, issued a lengthy apology on behalf of his family on social media. He said he “wholeheartedly” agrees his father’s actions are “disgraceful” and that they “made my stomach drop in utter embarrassment.”
“As someone who works in an Emergency Department and has seen many lives lost, along with my mother who is a Nurse Practitioner working in the ICU in St. Louis trying desperately to save COVID-19 patients, the idea of removing the memorial for a lost soul is abhorrent,” the Facebook post said. “Please understand that myself, my family, and the (redacted) family name do NOT in any way share these ideas or condone these actions, as we are all ashamed of what has happened.”
The post, the son said he would continue to try to convince his father to change his views and make amends to the mourning families.
Kevin Frey said he appreciates the son’s apology, but still wants his cousin memorialized at the place were he lost his life.
“That doesn’t change what happened although I appreciate it,” Kevin Frey said. “They have offered to replace the crosses. However, there’s no point in doing that. There’s no guarantee that his dad’s not going to go back and pull it back out the ground again.”
Families want legal consequences
Kevin Frey wants the public to know that what happened to his cousin’s memorial was “morally wrong” and that political leaders need to take note that the deputies didn’t have a law to back up a citation.
He would like to see that “some kind of law or ordinance is enacted in the future, that there is a penalty for defacing memorials. That’s my goal.”
Frey said he plans to follow-up with Clinton County leaders to see what can be done. His initial thought was to gather a large group of people to bring attention to the issue but that’s on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent stay-at-home order in effect until May 31.
Ashley Voss of St. Rose agrees with the Freys about getting a new law passed. A memorial for her brother-in-law, Ryan Voss, was one of the markers taken in mid-April. It was on U.S. 50 outside Breese near the St. Rose exit where Ryan Voss died in a crash on a foggy night in 2005.
Ashley Voss said deputies reported that the Breese man also had been taking advertising signs.
“Who could take a cross and destroy it?” she said.
“He has no remorse for what he did.”
She said there should be “consequences” for someone to pay if they deface or remove a memorial for the victim of a fatal traffic accident.
Voss said her family is ready to put up a new cross in memory of Ryan Voss.
She hopes the publicity about her family’s struggle will prevent the new monument from being taken.
Travous said he was familiar with the Voss memorial because he was on the scene when the accident occurred. He said the area around the marker was maintained by the family and that mowing crews could easily go around it.
Kevin Frey said he would use a weed-eater to keep the grass mowed by his cousin’s marker.
IDOT’s position on roadside markers
Paul Wappel, a spokesman for the Illinois Department of Transportation, said the department is “respectful” of markers families place along state-maintained roads, but the agency doesn’t encourage people to do it in public right of way.
The department doesn’t “go looking” for the memorials but if there is a complaint filed, the agency would check it out to see if there was a hazard that needed to be removed, he said.
Wappel said the state maintains U.S. 50 heading into Breese where the Voss marker was located and the family noted their cross had been there nearly 15 years.
Wappel said the state has a special sign programs that family members can request IDOT to install for $200. One sign says “Reckless Driving Costs Lives” and the other says “Please Don’t Drink and Drive.”
The crash victim’s name is placed on a plaque with the sign. For more information about this program, go the department’s website at idot.illinois.gov.
This story was originally published April 30, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
