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Mother, two young boys drown overnight in lake on Loehr Road

News-Democrat

Two children and an adult woman drowned overnight in a St. Clair County lake, according to Capt. Steve Johnson.

The bodies of Kathy Baxmeyer, 40, of unincorporated Waterloo, her son, Kadin Baxmeyer, 7, and family friend Steven (Austin) Baum, 6, of Waterloo, were recovered Saturday morning from a lake on the Baxmeyer's residence on Loehr Road.

"Although initial indications and evidence point to a tragic accident where three people fell through ice and drowned, we are in the process of conducting a thorough death investigation," Johnson said.

Steven's mother reported her son missing shortly after midnight after repeated attempts to reach Kathy Baxmeyer's cell phone were unsuccessful.

It was Kadin's seventh birthday and Kathy Baxmeyer was supposed to the take the two boys to the movies to celebrate.

When deputies began investigating, they found boots and gloves near a lake close to the Baxmeyer's home. A police dog tracked the smell from the clothing into the lake, where a hole through the ice was visible.

Smithton, Hecker and Swansea fire departments responded.

The bodies were recovered from 12-foot-deep water after crews spent several hours diving.

All three drowning victims were pronounced dead between 3:30 and 4:30 a.m. by Preston Becker, St. Clair County Preston Becker. The bodies were transported to St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Belleville for autopsies.

"This is a sad reminder of the dangers of children and ice-covered lakes," Johnson said. "Our hearts go out to the victims' families."

Person found deceased under vehicle at junk yard

Person found deceased under vehicle at junk yard

On 12-28-07 at about 1100 hours Deputy Brian Cregger was dispatched to Paule’s junkyard at 1749 Freeburg Ave., near unincorporated Belleville in reference to a found body. Upon his arrival he spoke to employees at the junkyard. They stated on 12-27-07 at 0900 hours they saw a subject’s vehicle, who they knew, parked on their lot. They looked for him but could not find him. The next day (12-28-07) they contacted his boss and he stated no one had seen him. They conducted an extensive search of their junk yard and found a subject lying underneath a Honda Accord vehicle and he was obviously deceased. The Sheriff’s Department was contacted. A backhoe was used to lift the vehicle off of the subject. He was later identified as:

Gregory A. Nickens

white male, 47 years old 

5824 Schmidt Lane

Belleville, IL.

He appeared to have died from the blunt force trauma of the vehicle falling onto his chest. The following items were discovered at the scene:

• He did not have authorization to be in the junkyard and underneath a vehicle. Due to the make up of the body it was believed he had been under the vehicle for at least over a day. It appeared a vehicle jack had slipped out and the vehicle fell on top of him.
• He was wearing coveralls with clothing underneath.
• A flashlight, cutting tools, other small hand tools, and vehicle jack were all located next to him.
• The catalytic converter had cut marks on it next to where he was found.

The St. Clair County Coroner’s Office responded and pronounced him deceased. Although the investigation so far has not found anything suspicious towards the cause of death, we are asking if anyone has any information about Gregory Nickens’ whereabouts on the night of 12-26-07 or morning of 12-27-07 to contact Inv. Matt Dobler at 277-3505 x5718.