Prank Calls; ‘Vigilante Justice’

March 30, 1995

By MYSTIQUE MACOMBER

Tribune Staff Writer

WIS, RAPIDS – Prank calls and “vigilante justice” concern investigators who continue to search for the driver of the vehicle that struck and killed an 11-year-old town of Hansen girl Friday.

Wood County Sheriff Brian Illingworth said today that both hoax and telephone calls and threats to certain individuals have followed in the wake of Deidre Week’s death.

Week was struck by a northbound vehicle while riding her bicycle on County Trunk HH, just north of Vesper, about 6:45 p.m. Friday. She was transported to St. Joseph’s Hospital, Marshfield, where she was later pronounced dead. Funeral services were Wednesday.

“People call up and play hoaxes,” Illingworth said. Investigators follow the leads “only to find out it’s all a joke.”

The sheriff log reported at 6:20 p.m. Wednesday that several people were threatening an individual they believed was responsible. One person reportedly told the man if he found out he had killed Week, he would return and kill the man.

“We’ve been trying to steer that type of thing off,” Illingworth said.

“A couple different sources named him as a suspect, and we’ve interviewed him and continue to conduct interviews with him,” he said. “But its nowhere right now, and he’s a juvenile.

“The information we’re getting is strange,” the sheriff said. “We’ve interviews people who claimed they didn’t know if they hit a deer or a person, only to find out they weren’t anywhere near the place.

“But people continue to call,” he said. “Some are even family members who they think possibly could do this.”

Two investigators “are working day and night, and their officers are just checking whatever information, looking for the vehicle, conducting interviews, eliminating people as being suspects, as vehicles being suspect,” said Illingworth.

A reward that has been posted could help the investigation, he said.

“The kind of information we’re getting, we tend to believe there’s somebody out there who knows something,” he said. “And we certainly make an appeal, too. If there was a passenger, its in their best interest to come forward and talk to police.”

Illingworth said a passenger in the vehicle could be charged with failure to render aid. “But what we’re really interested in is the driver of the vehicle. Our hopes are that it’s a local person, and the majority of traffic on (County Trunk) HH is local.”

A press release circulated to area businesses and automotive shops has had great response, Illingworth said.

“It’s unbelievable how many cars have been in deer accidents, and yes, we’ve been following up on all of those.

“People are really interested,” he said. “Even if the information you have isn’t really much, call us.”