JESSICA M. EVANS-17 yo-JACOB WHEELER-22 yo-White County IL

MISSING: Two young people, last known to be in Centerville area





White County Sheriff’s authorities have announced that Jacob C. Wheeler,
22, and Jessica M. Evans, 17, were fishing together in the Centerville
area on Saturday night August 25. Jessica was to return home at 5am on
Sunday for work but didn’t. Attempts to contact both Wheeler and Evans
by family have been unsuccessful. Deputies and family have checked the
area where the two were said to be fishing/camping. Wheeler was driving a
gray 2003 Dodge Dakota pickup. Anyone with information on the location
of the individuals is urged to call the White County Sheriff’s
Department at 382-5321.
http://www.disclosurenewsonline.com/2012/08/27/missing-two-young-people-last-known-to-be-in-centerville-area/

8/27/2012: Illinois Man WANTED in Connection with MURDER of Teen
Girlfriend: White County, Illinois: After the body of missing Jessica M.
Evans (17/left) was found today, 8/27/2012, in the back of her
boyfriend’s pickup truck, police want to
talk to her boyfriend. Police are calling Jessica's death a murder and
are looking for Jacob C. Wheeler (22/right). They have named him a
person of interest in her death.

Jessica and her boyfriend were
reported missing Sunday evening, 8/26/2012, after Evans failed to show
up for work at 5 a.m. Sunday.

White County Sheriff Doug Maier
said a volunteer searcher on a 4-wheeler found Wheeler’s grey pickup
truck down a steep embankment in thick woods near the Little Wabash
River in northern White County shortly before 3 p.m. Monday.

Authorities have confirmed the body found in the back of the back of the truck was Jessica M. Evans.

Police are searching for Wheeler for questioning. “We are handling this
as a homicide,” Maier said. “While we don’t know at this time if he is a
witness, victim or suspect in her death, he is certainly being
considered a person of interest.”

Wheeler is described as a
white male – 5’ 8” tall with brown hair and blue eyes. Police say they
have no idea if he is in a vehicle, since his pickup truck has been
found.

Illinois State Police detectives and White County
Sheriff’s detectives are combing two potential crime scenes – the
campsite where the two are believed to have spent Saturday night – and
the location where the body was found. Witnesses said the two sites were
about a mile apart.

Shortly after 7 p.m. Monday, a K-9 unit
from the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department in Fairfield, Ill., arrived
to help search the are where the body was found.
Wheeler is a veteran of the Army, having recently completed a three-year tour of duty in Iraq.

Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to call the White County Sheriff’s Department at 618-382-5321.

SOURCE: http://m.courierpress.com/news/2012/aug/27/southern-illinois-sheriff-seeks-help-missing-man-t/

SOURCE: http://www.wsiltv.com/news/local/Police-Find-Womans-Body-167632885.html?m=y&smobile=y&clmob=y&c=n

Missing man found dead in Wayne County, suspect arrested

09/01/2012
WHITE CO, IL (WFIE) -

New details in the murder of White County residents Jessica Evans and Jacob Wheeler.

36-year-oldDdanny Coston of Carmi is in jail
Saturday night, charged with two counts of first degree murder, and
late Friday night, officials found Jacob Wheeler's body in Wayne County.


14 News was in White County just after
midnight when officials were putting together the final pieces of the
puzzle in that weeklong investigation.

"We've got a lot of people hurting tonight. We've lost two young people," said White County Sheriff Doug Maier.

Sheriff Maier says Friday, officials found a
fender and car parts near the area where Evans and Wheeler had gone
camping just a week ago.

"When we located that, it obviously led us in a little different direction than we'd been going," noted Sheriff Maier.

Deputies say those vehicle parts matched
Danny Coston's vehicle, and when questioned, he confessed to the murder
of both Evans and Wheeler.

"It does appear to be a random-type situation that, due to some events, turned into a horrible evening," Maier said.

Sheriff Maier tells us Coston is a neighbor to the Wheelers.

"He knew the father. Now, he did not know Jacob or Jessica, either one."

The sheriff's office says they believe Evans and Wheeler's deaths happened around the same time.

"He's been outside in the elements for six days. He wasn't in the best of condition, though," noted Sheriff Maier.

Saturday, while officials wrap up loose ends
on the case, 15 minutes away in Norris City, dozens of cars filled the
parking lot at Crossroads Bible Church, honoring Jessica Evans.

Sheriff Maier, hoping more details lead to more closure, for both families.

"They've all had a long week and I'm happy and hope that this will at least give them some comfort."

Coston is in White County Jail on $3 million bond. The sheriff's office says the states attorney's office will file formal charges early next week.
http://www.14news.com/story/19430685/search-continued-for-man-linked-to-17-year-old-shot-earlier-this-week

Man charged with murdering girl, 17, and her Iraq War veteran boyfriend, 22, who vanished on camping trip

• Danny Coston, 36, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder
  
• Jessica Evans, 17, was found shot in the head three times in her boyfriend, Jacob Wheeler's, pickup truck
  
• Wheeler, 22, was a person of interest in Evans' death until Coston confessed to the killings
  
• Wheeler's body was found in wooded area after Coston's confession
  
• Couple started dating just a couple of months before their deaths
  
• 
  An Illinois man has been arrested and
  charged with murdering a young couple whose bodies were found days apart
  after the two went missing last weekend, according to police.
  Jessica
  Evans, 17, and her boyfriend, 22-year-old Jacob Wheeler, disappeared
  while on a camping and fishing trip near the Little Wabash River.
  On
  Monday afternoon, police found Evans dead in the bed of her boyfriend’s
  pickup truck, setting off a manhunt for Wheeler, who became a person of
  interest in the investigation.
  According
  to White County Sheriff Doug Maier, officials had a break in the
  investigation on Friday after coming across evidence of a second vehicle
  at the scene of the couple’s disappearance, according to the station KFVS.
  Pieces
  of a wrecked car were linked to 36-year-old Danny Coston, of Carmi, who
  confessed to killing the couple when questioned by police.
  Early
  Saturday morning, Maier has confirmed that the 22-year-old’s remains
  were discovered in a rural area of Wayne County based on information
  provided by the suspect.
  
  Coston has been preliminarily charged with two counts of first-degree murder.
  
  Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2196805/Danny-Coston-Man-charged-murdering-girl-17-Iraq-War-veteran-boyfriend-22-vanished.html#ixzz25h8H97cI
  

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2196805/Danny-Coston-Man-charged-murdering-girl-17-Iraq-War-veteran-boyfriend-22-vanished.html#ixzz25h82MWJd

Charges against Coston include aggravated sexual assault, murder

09/04/2012
WHITE CO, IL (WFIE) -


A White County, Illinois man has been charged with multiple counts of first degree murder.

36-year-old Danny Coston is accused of killing Jessica Evans and Jacob Wheeler.

On Tuesday, we learned the state's attorney believes Coston also sexually assaulted Evans.

The murders of Jessica Evans and Jacob
Wheeler have had a huge impact on the small community of Carmi, much of
White County, and the surrounding area.

There are still many questions that remain, but those formal charges that were filed on Tuesday do shed some light on things.


Court was crowded this morning as Coston made his first appearance.
Jacob Wheeler's father, Harold, made sure to be there.

When asked what it was like seeing him
face-to-face, Harold said, "Oh, I wanted to get a hold of him, it was
hard. But that's fatherly love for his kids."

Like the sheriff and state's attorney, Harold Wheeler knows Danny Coston.

"Been down at my house. I've been at his house, didn't strike me to do something like this," Harold said.

He certainly didn't expect to be saying goodbye to his 22-year-old son so soon.

A young man he says recently spent three years in Iraq with the Army.

"He comes home, goes fishing on a bank he's
fished all his life and he gets killed. Come home from service not a
scratch. That ain't right," Harold said.


White County State's Attorney T. Scott Webb filed the formal charges against Coston.

There are nine counts in all, five of them for first degree murder.


"In Illinois, you can charge murder several different ways and that's essentially what I did," Webb said.

The sixth charge is aggravated criminal sexual assault against Jessica Evans.

"It states in there that there was sexual
intercourse involved and it was done through force with a gun basically.
So you can deduce from that whatever you will," Webb said.


Coston did not speak as he was led to and from the courthouse, but Harold is letting his voice be heard.

He wants justice for Jessica and his son.

"I'm going to be at every trial until he's sentenced. I'm not missing a one," Harold said.

Jacob Wheeler's family tells 14 News that
visitation will be from 5:00-8:00 p.m. tonight at Campell's Funeral Home
and that a funeral service will take place Wednesday morning at First
Christian Church at 10:30 a.m.

Now, while this is all still going on the sheriff here in White County says their investigation isn't finished yet.

For now, Coston will remain in White County Jail on $3 million bond.

http://www.kfvs12.com/story/19450808/charges-agains-coston-include-murder-sexual-assault