Forgotten Wisconsin Unsolved Cases: Who killed Deidre Week?

Go to original SOURCE to view video.

Forgotten Wisconsin Cold Cases Podcast

By Kassandra Sepeda, Sean White and Tom Zurawski

Published: Jun. 6, 2024 at 7:52 PM CDT|Updated: Jun. 6, 2024 at 8:52 PM CDT

VESPER, Wis. (WSAW) - For 29 years, the death of a little girl in central Wisconsin has gone unsolved. It’s a complicated case filled with confusing testimony, a skeptical family, and a sheriff’s office under deep scrutiny, but at the core, it’s about the death of Deidre Week and the search to find her killer.

On March 24, 1995, Deidre Week was 11 years old when she rode her bike to a Vesper convenience store after 4-H play practice to get some snacks and soda.

This would’ve been around 6:20 p.m., so dusk, but still light outside. There weren’t any sidewalks on the county road she needed to take but it was just one mile away from her house. A quick Google search estimates about a five-minute bike ride one way.

You know, I was doing chores around there making dinner and stuff, and then about the time she should be home. I was out feeding the dogs and actually heard the sound. I heard a crash,” Deidre’s dad David Week said.

Shortly after hearing that sound, around 6:30 p.m., David said he decided to look for his daughter.

“I just had to check that out because she should have been coming home while at that time,” he said. “So I jumped in my truck and I went up to the edge of the driveway.”

While waiting to turn, he saw two vehicles fly past heading north, the first one a silver color. He couldn’t describe the color of the second vehicle only that one of them had a really loud muffler. After they drove by, David turned right out of his driveway onto County Road HH heading south.

“I was looking and then I saw her bike in the middle of the road,” David said.

At first, he thought maybe Deidre had gotten distracted by a lost animal.

“We found a kitten there one time, and I thought she found another kitten,” he shared.

Sadly, just 500 yards down the road from their house, he found his little girl, the way no father should.

“I was probably in shock at that point and now I’ve seen her in the ditch, and, you know, she was in a little bit of water too. So, I took her out of there,” David said.

After a few minutes, David went to a nearby house to call 911.

“It was almost like she was telling me not to be around there any longer. And I had to, I could never figure that out till later on,” David said. “That was that, I wouldn’t have had those memories, and I knew she was gone.”

Then he called his wife Brenda. Shortly after, first responders arrived, Deidre was taken to a nearby hospital via helicopter where she was later pronounced dead. However, David wasn’t the only one to call 911 that night.

A man named Jim Vruwink also called for help.

“He had witnessed this scene — this incident take place, and he was one of the ones that called for emergency vehicles,” Lt. Scott Goldberg with the Wood County Sheriff’s Department said.

The 31-year-old was the driver of the second vehicle David saw that night.

Now, there are dozens of articles and documents that outline Jim’s account of that night, and not all of them are the same.

“Well, there’s so many reports and so many conflicting reports. It’s very difficult to keep this case straight,” Goldberg said. “There’s so many different statements coming in from different neighbors and different individuals.”

According to documents from the Wood County Sheriff’s Office, Jim was interviewed and spoke with multiple officers on scene, that night and in the days, weeks, and months later.

According to one report, on the night of the crash, Jim said he was driving south on County Road HH heading into Vesper to drop off a car part in town.

At the time, Jim worked with cars and still does to this day, owning a used car dealership in Wisconsin Rapids. While driving he described seeing a swerving car driving toward him, and then a sudden cloud of smoke. It wasn’t until he got closer that he realized the vehicle in question hit a person.

Reports go on to say that Jim saw a little girl in the ditch, honked his horn to get someone’s attention, turned his car around, and began pursuing the striking vehicle.

However, after reading dozens of pages of reports, we couldn’t find one that said a neighbor heard a horn where Deidre was hit, including David who heard the initial crash.

After turning around, Jim said he followed the speeding car for about two miles before losing it near a curve in the road. Tenpas Road if you’re looking at the map. At that point, Jim said he drove one mile north to his house and called 911 around 6:45 p.m.

Then he said he switched cars so he could have a faster one, and if you think that sounds weird, so does Deidre’s family.

“The chase was already done and over with at that point. So why are you switching cars? And then that car broke down at the scene,” Deidre’s cousin Kelli Cornelis said.

She’s right though. After switching cars, Jim returned to the scene where later his car had to be towed home because of battery issues.

There are a lot of questions surrounding the striking car in question. If you’re wondering if Jim got a license plate number, the answer is no, saying he never got close enough to see it. He could confirm there were two people inside, but couldn’t be certain if they were male or female. He also said he did not know who the car belonged to.

The color of the vehicle is also unclear.

“It was possibly a Cavalier Chevrolet body style or similar. He believed that it was a two-tone vehicle, darker color on top and possibly silver, gray on the bottom, but we have received different statements of what that vehicle is — what the vehicles driving down double HH that night. That has conflicted that statement,” Goldberg said. “So, at this time, we’re still not wanting the public just to be looking for that type of a vehicle. It could be any vehicle with front-end damage.”

It’s the inconsistency of the vehicle description that’s a huge problem for Deidre’s dad.

“He couldn’t give a solid color of the car, and he couldn’t give the make of the car, but what was his job? He sold cars,” David said. “This is you know, this is just crazy!”

While a two-tone description was given, a report by then-investigator Thomas Reichert lists two other witnesses along county highway HH describing two vehicles. Both indicate seeing a silver vehicle matching David’s account.

Throughout the night, deputies searched nearby taverns, roads, and driveways for a car with any damage but never found one matching the description given by Jim.

Later, around 11 p.m., about four and a half hours after the crash, Jim called the sheriff’s department and was interviewed at his house. The cars in his lot were also examined but none had any matching damage.

That same night another man who the family considers to be their “prime suspect,” was also interviewed, although, we can’t say for certain if his vehicle was checked that night or in the hours that followed.

As you can probably guess, we can’t name any suspects because as of June 6, 2024, no one has ever been charged with Deidre’s death.

During that conversation with deputies, that person admits to being at JoJo’s Bar with a friend in the hour leading up to the crash. Reports taken that night also confirm their presence in the bar.

However, the time when they leave depends on who you ask. Eyewitness reports give a variety of answers, some close to the time of the crash, others the hour before. According to notes from the night of the crash, the person says they left the bar at 5:30 p.m.

The timing is very important because Jojo’s Bar is located one mile south of the Week’s home, off of County Road HH, and one block from Winches, where Deidre had left riding her bike. Meaning if the person who hit Deidre was coming from the bar or in town, it likely would have been around 6:30 p.m.

“There’s a lot of speculation that possibly alcohol was involved. Could have been just distracted driving. We don’t know the reason that this person hit Deidre,” Goldberg said.

It’s important to note that the person who the Week family said was behind the wheel was also known to have professional experience with cars.

Less than two months later, Jim would undergo a polygraph exam about his knowledge of the crash. In the summary conclusion, the examiner said they felt Jim was being truthful to the questions asked.

They included questions like did you strike Deidre Week with a motor vehicle, and are you withholding information regarding the accident involving Deidre Week? To which he all said no and passed.

There was one question, however, that did raise a small red flag.

The examiner said, “The only minuses that I had on the whole examination was a little bit on the question, ‘If he knew who had done this.’ We had much discussion on that. He certainly doesn’t test out that he knows it, but every person could have an opinion even though it wasn’t specific. That minus was so minor that it didn’t affect the examination in any way.”

We also reached out to Jim in hopes of getting his perspective but never heard back.

From the very beginning of the investigation, the Week family feels like the case was severely mishandled by one person specifically.

“We just, you know, we just wished that he would have done something about it, you know?” David questioned. “I blame everything on him. Yeah, if it weren’t for him, I think we would’ve had this solved decades ago. I mean look at all the coincidences.”

Speaking with former Wood County Sheriff Brian Illingworth, he said, “Well, I actually kept the investigation going, because when they started their own investigation that can slow things down. Really feel that for someone who’s lost a child.”

In countless interviews, articles, and social media posts the family has expressed frustrations about their interactions with Illingworth, sometimes describing them as outright hostile.

“He got right in my face, and my brother was there,” David said. “And they all thought that he was trying to get me to hit him or something. And then, boy, that would’ve thrown the case. I didn’t, but from that point on, things got worse.”

“Because it wasn’t just her passing. But it was, I mean, there was harassment and everything that they were dealing with,” Kelli added.

We asked the former sheriff for his thoughts on the investigation.

“You know, it’s something I can’t forget,” he said. “I find it very frustrating. Would have been good if we would’ve been able to solve it. That’s really, that’s really all I can say.”

Back in 1995 and in the years that followed, the family very publicly accused the sheriff’s department of intentionally botching the investigation because of the personal and professional connections between the witness, Jim Vruwink, the potential suspects, and then-Sheriff Illingworth.

So, was he friends with the witness back in 1995?

“Yeah, I know Jim Vruwink, I’ve known him for some time,” he said describing their friendship. “Jim was a friend of mine, but in no way did I impede the investigation. If he did it he did it. I’m not going to protect anybody.”

Another point of contention, a massive investigation and case study commissioned by the Weeks suggests that back in the early 90s, the Wood County Sheriff’s vehicles were regularly serviced at one of the suspect’s businesses. Which turns out to be true.

“You know, and it was a conflict of interest,” Kelli said. “You know, somebody outside of the county should have been investigating right away.”

Because Illingworth, the sheriff at the time, considered the witness a friend and had a working relationship with one of the suspects’ businesses, the family feels that the Wood County Sheriff’s Department should not have led the investigation.

Illingworth was sheriff from 1988 to January of 1999. Deidre was killed in 1995.

In a stack of reports, we found an internal document noting that David and Brenda Week asked for the Department of Criminal Investigation to get involved. That was on April 18, just three weeks after the hit and run.

However, it says the DCI denied their request saying everything necessary had already been done and they would not have an agent free to work on the case.

Then in August, a letter from Sheriff Illingworth asks DCI to provide an investigator. Which Lt. Goldberg says does happen.

“It’s important that the public knows that the Department of Justice worked this case pretty quickly after this incident took place and assisted with the investigation,” he said. “So, there was an independent agency that looked at this case.”

It’s been years, maybe even decades since anyone spoke with Illingworth about Deidre’s case.

We asked if at any point did the current sheriff’s department want to interview him or give him a polygraph and if he would be willing to do that.

“I have no idea why they would want to give me a polygraph. I don’t understand that,” he responded.

He added that there is no way he is trying to protect anyone. “There’s only so many ways I could say I wasn’t complicit to the investigation,” he said. “I did not compromise the department I did not compromise myself.”

While Deidre’s family is certain they know who hit her, the sheriff’s office says it’s still working to find the right person or persons and make an arrest.

“There’s not one suspect in this case, we have a list of suspects in this case, and the important part about that is it’s easy to look at a case very quickly and determine who has done this,” Goldbert said. “It’s another thing to make to create this probable cause to what actually took place.”

During their interview with us, Kelli and David both spoke very highly of the department now operating under Sheriff Shawn Becker, who was elected in 2018.

“He’s done a lot of stuff that was never done before,” David said. “So, our family, you can see, it just made us a little more happier than we were before all this.”

“I think we need to realize to the majority, Sheriff Becker may be the only person that actually was working here when this took place,” Goldberg said. “This is a whole different group, a whole different generation of officers and investigators.”

That includes Goldberg who has been with the Wood County Sheriff’s Office for 17 years. However, he’s been part of the community his entire life. He went to Lincoln High School in Wisconsin Rapids, college at UWSP, and then began his career as a deputy in Adams County before moving back home.

For him, this isn’t just another case.

“I went to school with Deidre and her brother was the same grade as me when this all took place,” he shared. “So it was very near and dear, I remember right where I was when I heard the news because I was helping the neighbor on a farm milk cows.”

When he became an investigator, he knew he wanted to be part of the team to hopefully solve this case and give the Week family answers.

“I would be the first person to say if I knew there was some type of corruption or something like the rumors have suggested in the past, I’d be the first one to come forward,” he said.

“I think that, that if they find solid evidence and everything, that they’re gonna do something about it. I never thought that before,” David added.

Lt. Goldberg was honest, saying the techniques used nearly 30 years ago are different than what they would use today, but just because they don’t have the answer right now, that doesn’t mean the case is inactive.

“It’s not a cold case, it’s an old case,” Goldberg said. “It’s important for the public to understand that we don’t advertise every interview that we do. It’s important to understand that on at least a weekly, or biweekly timeframe, we’re doing something with this case and there’s a lot of things happening in the background.”

That includes an excavation in a Wood County field connected to a pond area to find the striking vehicle. While the search was unsuccessful the investigator says the department takes credible tips seriously.

“It’s important for the public to know that that’s the type of things, that’s the type of investigation that we’re doing,” Goldberg added. “We’re going above and beyond trying to find this vehicle or any type of evidence to this case.”

The department is also still investigating Deidre’s case as a homicide.

“At this point, we don’t know if she was hit intentionally if it was an accident, we don’t know those details. So obviously, statute limitations could come into play if it was an accident, but depending on the intention of the person, or what took place,” Goldberg stated.

Intentional or not, the family wants answers.

The family paid hundreds of dollars to get a massive set of county documents, including letters, officer reports, polygraph results, and inter-department communication from the sheriff’s office related to Deidre’s case.

Kelli has been the driving force behind making sure every single document they receive is available to the public on their website, JusticeforDeidreWeek.com, and constantly updates their Facebook page.

Over the years the family has never let their pain stop them from celebrating Deidre’s short but beautiful life. David says they continue to celebrate her birthday and everything else.

The family has also put up billboards, held protests, and continued to rally support from near and far.

‘I think it’s really impacted the community more than we thought it would,” Kelli said.

Living in a close-knit community, like Vesper, can have incredible benefits, like a sense of camaraderie and loyalty, but sometimes loyalty can be blind and ultimately get the way of what’s right.

Yeah. I think part of it is people are scared, people are cowardly, or they’re afraid of being judged,” Kelli added.

“It’s difficult to face the consequences, but I think in this case, in this situation, it’s been 29 years — give the family some peace and allow them to figure out what actually happened that day,” Goldberg said.

Deidre was just an 11-year-old girl riding her bike when her life was taken from her. The truth shouldn’t be buried anymore.

When asked about what it would mean to learn the truth one day, David said, “Well, my idea’s that I will know, someday. I will know someday when I pass on, and I go into heaven, because I’d been a good father and a good husband and going to heaven, and I will learn then. I will learn the exact truth then.”

Deidre, you have not been forgotten.

If you have information about the death of Deidre Week please call the Wood County non-emergency line at 715-421-8700.

SOURCE