Police chief asks for assistance in identifying body; calls for help with suspicious cases

Alton Police Chief Jake Simmons echoed what Madison County Coroner Steve Nonn said in a Riverbender.com article on Tuesday about citizens calling the department in suspicious situations.

“We have to get back to the grassroots of neighbors helping neighbors,” he said. “If someone suspicious walks into your neighborhood at 2 or 3 in the morning or anything else is suspicious in the neighborhood, we urge people to call us and we will investigate.”

Simmons said his department is waiting for medical and toxicology reports to come back on the body that was found in Powhatten in Alton in the trunk in early August of last year.

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“It could be a couple more months until we get feedback,” he said.

Some might question how a body could remain in a trunk for several years and no one say anything to police, but Simmons said the house was vacant. If the house had been occupied it might have been a different story.

“The kids in that area had told several parents on the street they thought there was a body in the car, but a lot of the parents didn’t take the kids seriously. If they had called us it wouldn’t have gone this far.”

For more information on the Powhatten case, Simmons encouraged residents to call the Alton Police Department at 618-463-3505.

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