More Cicero Families Come Forward As They Wait For Answers In Cold Case Murders
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Earlier this year, the Morning Insiders sat down with a group of grieving parents; all four are mourning the loss of someone to Cicero violence, with no arrests in any of these cases.
The story circulated on social media and more families reached out to us about the lack of closure in Cicero homicides. CBS 2's Lauren Victory digs into the suburb's clearance rate.
Despite an arrest warrant, John and Michael Fields' killer is still on the loose.
"It was April 12, 1995," said their sister, Angela Fields. "It's very frustrating, because it's 26 years. It's like, okay, let's get him back here. Let's get this done."
With a suspect name, Angela Fields actually has more answers than most who are reeling from Cicero homicides.
CBS 2 analyzed all murders since 1995 and found only about 41% are "cleared."
Jorge Anacleto's case is marked "investigation." No one's been held responsible for 14 years and counting.
"I feel like it's about time. We need some kind of answers to why is it taking so long?" said his sister, Nancy Anacleto.
CBS 2 asked Cicero Police Superintendent Jerry Chlada about it.
He took over in 2005 and doubled the size of the gang unit. Chlada said that led to a drop in gang-related murders, which are notoriously harder to solve because of retaliation fears.
Did that crime reduction affect Cicero's clearance rate? Possibly. Data shows arrests in 70% of murders that happened in the past five years in Cicero Again, compare that to the 41% clearance rate over the past 25 years.
Fields and Anacleto both recently noticed a difference in the handling of their older cases.
"They've been answering my emails and my calls. So I'm hoping. They gave me a little bit of hope this time around, because I think it's new detectives," Anacleto said.
Chlada said he's specifically assigned three Cicero officers to cold cases. They have their hands full.
More than 60 families are waiting for closure.