Mar 31, 2009 5:44 pm US/Central
Missing Downstate Boys Killed In Murder-Suicide
Jack And Duncan Connolly Of LeRoy, Ill., Had Been Missing Since March
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (CBS) ―
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The bodies of Jack Connolly, 7, and his older brother Duncan, 9, were found in the back of a car belonging to their father, Michael Connolly, in downstate Putnam County.
Connolly Family
A search for two downstate boys that went on for nearly a month has ended in a gruesome discovery.
The boys were found dead, along with their father, who was accused of kidnapping them. Investigators believe he took the boys' lives before killing himself.
Duncan Connolly, 9, and his brother Jack, 7, of LeRoy, Ill., in downstate McLean County, had been missing since March 9. A warrant for child abduction charges was out against their father, Michael Connolly, 40.
Investigators wouldn't say how where or when the boys were murdered but sources told CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli that the killings likely did not happen recently.
The boys' mother, Amy Leichtenberg, released this statement Monday afternoon:
"My heart is broken and there are no words that express my pain. No parent should have to bury their babies. Duncan and Jack, Mommy loves you to the heavens and back. I feel that the judicial system failed me. I pray that the courts listen to the warnings from other parents like me. Thank you everyone for your prayers and support. The family respectfully requests that we have privacy as we cope with this horrible tragedy. Please keep our family and friends in your hearts and prayers."
CBS 2's Dana Kozlov reports on how the boys' mom feels betrayed by the system.
Leichtenberg says she and her attorney repeatedly asked a McLean County judge to cancel those unsupervised visits - believing Michael Connolly was a flight risk and because he'd abused her in the past. But nothing changed.
So what may have gone wrong? McLean County State's Attorney Bill Yoder says he needs more information.
"I don't know specifically what she was referring to as far as the justice system and being upset with it," Yoder said. "There were several matters preceding including continuing visitation issues and there were several criminal actions that had been filed against Michael Connolly."
In an interview before the bodies were found, Leichtenberg described her relationship with Michael Connolly as a perilous situation of threats and terror.
"He always told me because I took the kids from him, that I would suffer just like he did," Leichtenberg said.
The pain began the day the boys went missing. Leichtenberg reported Duncan and Jack missing on Monday, March 9, the day after Michael Connolly was supposed to return the boys after a weekend visit.
When he didn't show up, she pleaded tearfully for their safe return.
"Mom loves you. Please come home!" Leichtenberg said. "I'm sending out everyone I can to find you!"
The entire community joined the family in prayer, but ultimately, the worst case scenario came true.
On Sunday at 5 p.m., Putnam County sheriff's officers found a suspicious vehicle in a secluded, remote area that turned out to belong to Michael Connolly, according to the McLean County sheriff's office. The area where the vehicle was found is about an hour's drive north of LeRoy.
McLean County sheriff's officers assigned to the Connolly Task Force, and Illinois State Police investigators came to the scene. They found bodies that matched descriptions of Duncan and Jack in the back seat of the car, and a body matching the description of Michael Connolly on the ground about 60 feet away, the sheriff's office said.
Leichtenberg divorced Connolly in 2007, after he reportedly physically abused her. Connolly also suffered from depression.
Leichtenberg says she had also begged the court not to grant Connolly overnight stays with their sons, but a judge ruled against her.
"I told him he was a flight risk. My attorney told him he was a flight risk," she said. "Nobody believed me."
In this case, though, those mourning Duncan and Jack can't help but blame the judge.
"The judge didn't kill them but he was behind it," said Leichtenberg's friend Maria Abbate. "He didn't do his job."
Jack was known for his outgoing personality and his love of Batman. Duncan was a wrestler who loved to draw action figures and was known for his calm demeanor.
Information on services for the boys will be posted on the will be posted on the
www.helpfindduncancandjack.com website this coming week, according to a family representative.
People are expressing condolences
on a Facebook group called "The Official Bringing Jack and Duncan Connolly Home Safe Group."
CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli, Dana Kozlov and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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