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As police in suburban Indian Head Park continued their search for a burglar who police believe fatally stabbed a 14-year-old girl coming home from school, the grieving family of young Kelli O'Laughlin was making funeral arrangements.
O'Laughlin, a freshman at Lyons Township High School, was discovered by her mother at their home in the 6300 block of Keokuk Road in the southwest suburb about 5:30 p.m. Thursday, NBC Chicago reports. She was pronounced dead at a local hospital shortly thereafter. Police believe she walked in on a burglary in progress.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, visitation for O'Laughlin will be held Wednesday and Thursday at Hallowell and James Funeral Home, 1025 West 55th St., in Countryside, from 4 to 9 p.m. The funeral will take place at St. John of the Cross Church, 5005 Wolf Road in Western Springs at 9:45 a.m. Friday, followed by burial at Fairmont Willow Hills Memorial Park in Willow Springs.
The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office said the girl's cause of death was "multiple stab and incised [knife-like] wounds." The suspect has been described, based on a witness description, as a black male with a dark complexion, 30-35 years old, between 5-foot-8 and 5-foot-9 with a medium build. He was reportedly seen in the Indian Head Park area wearing a dark hoodie and carrying a patterned backpack.
NBC Chicago reports that the suspect escaped with several rare coins, including some from a Las Vegas casino. Anyone who spots the coins is asked to contact police immediately.
Multiple donors have come forward since Thursday, offering a reward of $40,800 for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the slaying, the Chicago Tribune reports. Anyone with information should call (708) 246-4534.
Though there were several reports Friday that police were speaking with a "person of interest" in the case, police told ABC Chicago that was not the case:
On Saturday afternoon, authorities confirmed that a man questioned following the slaying of the 14-year-old is being held on a warrant in connection with a separate burglary spree that happened over the summer in the southwestern suburb. While some reports claim the suspect is under investigation in connection with the teen's slaying, Indian Head Police Chief Frank Alonzo tells ABC7 they're unrelated.
"There is somebody in custody but it's for a different incident," Alonzo said.
Earlier in the year, the area played host to a spate of burglaries where a man reportedly used Google Maps' "street view" to identify upscale suburban homes and survey their properties in order to plan his break-ins.
Meanwhile, Lyons Township High School has counselors on hand to help grieving students.
"She would hang out with everybody," one former classmate told Patch. "You could really connect with her."