Brian C. Carrick 17, Msg 12/20/02, Johnsburg IL (Arrest Made)

[sarahhod]

http://www.nampn.org/cases/carrick_brian.html

Brian C. Carrick

http://www.nampn.org/cases/images/carrick_brian1.jpg http://www.nampn.org/cases/images/carrick_brian2.jpg
Above Images: Carrick, circa 2002

Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance

# Missing Since: December 20, 2002 from Johnsburg, Illinois
# Classification: Endangered Missing
# Date Of Birth: September 13, 1985
# Age: 17
# Height: 5'9"
# Weight: 135 lbs.
# Hair Color: Brown
# Eye Color: Brown
# Race: White
# Gender: Male
# Distinguishing Characteristics: Curly hair. Surgical scar on chest.
# Medical Conditions: Heart condition which may require medical attention.
# Clothing: Black Adidas jacket with stripes on the sleeves from the shoulder to the waist, an orange sweatshirt, and blue jeans.
# Case Number: USILM02F0887

Details of Disappearance
Carrick left his home in the 4000 block of North Johnsburg Road in Johnsburg, Illinois between 6:30 and 7:00 p.m. on December 20, 2002 and headed across the street to Val's Foods, where he worked as a stocker. He had asked a coworker to switch hours with him that night, but was turned down. No one saw Carrick leave the store. He was reported missing by his parents at 2:45 p.m. the next day. They had noticed his absence at 8:00 a.m. that morning, but had thought he was at work until 11:45 when someone from Val's Foods called them and they realized Carrick was not there.
The morning after Brian's disappearance, a stock boy at Val's found a pool of blood in a walk-in freezer in the produce department and alerted the store manager. The manager said he saw the blood, which was diluted with water dripping from an overhead cooling unit. He told the stock boy to mop it up. The manager, who at the time was not aware Brian was missing, said he assumed the blood came from raw meat stored in the cooler. It was enough blood "that he had to mop it up three times with a mop and wring it out each time". Detectives were able to get traces of blood from the mopped floor. DNA tests confirmed that blood was Brian's.

In May 2003, Brian's mother held an assembly at his high school to ask for information from the student body. Police received a few calls afterward, but no solid leads. Brian was one of 14 children in his family. Foul play is strongly suspected, and officers have not ruled out drugs as a possible motive.

Audio recordings have turned up in which Mario Casciaro reportedly tells another man he knows what happened to 17-year-old Brian Carrick, who may have killed him, and where his body may be today. Casciaro, 24, was charged in June with nine counts of perjury for allegedly lying to a McHenry County grand jury investigating Carrick's disappearance. Casciaro, now the co-owner of Val's Foods in Fox Lake, was Carrick's supervisor the night he disappeared.

Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Johnsburg Police Department
(815) 385-6024
(847) 497-9380

[sarahhod]

http://www.charleyproject.org/images/c/carrick_brian3.jpg


http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/carrick_brian.html

[sarahhod]

Carrick case enters 7th year: Investigation of missing Johnsburg teen a tedious one, police say

Created: Sunday, December 21, 2008 4:20 a.m. CST
Updated: Sunday, December 21, 2008 4:25 a.m. CST

By SARAH SUTSCHEK – ssutschek@nwherald.com

JOHNSBURG – Another year has passed, and investigators have revealed what they think is another piece of the puzzle behind Brian Carrick’s 2002 disappearance.

In August, 23-year-old Robert Render of Johnsburg pleaded not guilty to concealing Brian Carrick’s homicide. Render is a former employee of Val’s Foods, the grocery store where Brian, then 17, last was seen.

“We’re still in the discovery phase,” McHenry County State’s Attorney Louis Bianchi said of Render’s arrest. “It’s a fact-finding process at this point.”

This year, an engineer also took measurements of the cooler and staging area at Val’s where blood was found, Johnsburg police Chief Kenneth Rydberg said.

“Those and photographs of blood droppings and splatter have been sent to experts,” he said. “Those take time.”

Carrick last was seen about 6:45 p.m. Dec. 20, 2002, walking into Val’s Foods, which is across the street from his house.

He had worked there for about three years.

Rydberg said that investigators knew that the case would take awhile because no body was recovered and evidence had been destroyed.

It was two days after Carrick disappeared that they were notified about the blood in the cooler and on boxes in a trash compactor, he said.

Brian Carrick’s mother, Terry Carrick, remains confident that one day she will know definitively what happened to Brian, one of her 14 children.

“I don’t like the word ‘closure,’ but I know someday we will see justice,” she said.

She praised the Johnsburg Police Department, FBI, and McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office, saying each has been working tirelessly.

“As long as things keep happening, somebody will have to tell the truth,” Terry Carrick said. “Until then, they carry the guilty conscience.”

In 2007, the major development was the arrest of Mario Casciaro, now 25, of McHenry. He was charged with nine counts of perjury for allegedly lying to a grand jury about the case, but one of the counts was dropped.

At Casciaro’s most recent court appearance, his attorneys questioned whether recordings of Casciaro – made without his knowledge – had been altered. But Nichole Owens, chief of the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Criminal Division, has said that some of the recordings are just inaudible.

Rydberg also said no tampering occurred.

“Absolutely nothing was done to alter the audio,” he said.

Casciaro is next due in court Jan. 8. Render is scheduled to be in court Jan. 7.

http://www.nwherald.com/articles/2008/12/21/57750438/index.xml

[sarahhod]

Trial set in case linked to teen's disappearance

A judge Wednesday scheduled an April 27 jury trial date for a McHenry man charged with lying under oath about his knowledge of the 2002 disappearance, and suspected murder, of a Johnsburg teen. Mario Casciaro, 25, faces eight counts of perjury alleging he gave false testimony to a grand jury investigating the disappearance of Brian Carrick. The 17-year-old vanished Dec. 20, 2002, after working a shift at a grocery store where Casciaro was his supervisor. Among the allegations against Casciaro are that he lied when he told the grand jury he did not know where Carrick's body was dumped.

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=274972&src=5

[Grande]

Mario Casciaro

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=104978432

[sarahhod]

Thursday, April 23, 2009 1:15 a.m. CDT

Attorneys postpone trials

By JILLIAN DUCHNOWSKI - jduchnowski@nwherald.com


WOODSTOCK – A man accused of lying about Brian Carrick’s December 2002 disappearance will not stand trial Monday as originally planned.
Instead, Mario Casciaro, 25, of McHenry will appear in court Wednesday for a pre-trial status hearing. Casciaro was charged with eight counts of perjury for allegedly lying to a grand jury about his earlier statements regarding Carrick’s disappearance.
Carrick, 17, was a Johnsburg High School senior when he last was seen walking into a grocery store across the street from his home. Authorities have called the case a homicide although no body has been found.
Casciaro allegedly lied under oath when he denied telling another man, Alan Lippert, 26, that he directed Shane Lamb, 24, to scare Carrick and “things got out of hand,” according to court records. He also allegedly lied when he denied telling Lippert that Carrick’s body was dismembered and thrown into a river in Iowa.
Casciaro’s attorney, William Gibbs, asked a judge to push back the trial because Gibbs is scheduled to defend another client in a trial in another county next week.
The trial in another case involving Carrick also has been continued.
Robert Render, 23, of the Johnsburg area, originally was scheduled to stand trial May 11 on allegations that he concealed Carrick’s homicide, but his attorney asked for more time to review the evidence and prepare his defense.

http://www.nwherald.com/articles/2009/04/22/r_xw97dkojt0uumtnuq5h7ha/index.xml

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Chicago Sun Times
August 20, 2009 Thursday

Charges in missing teen case dropped

A McHenry County judge tossed out perjury charges Wednesday against a suburban man accused of lying about the still-unsolved 2002 disappearance of Brian Carrick, 17.

Mario Casciaro, 26, was on trial on charges of lying to the grand jury probing the fate of Carrick, of far northwest suburban Johns- burg.

Carrick vanished from the grocery store where he worked on Dec. 20, 2002.

Judge Sharon Prather ruled that McHenry County prosecutors hadn't proved that Casciaro lied when he denied telling a friend that he knew how Carrick had been murdered and where his body was hidden.

Prosecutors think Carrick was slain at the grocery store, citing DNA tests that confirmed that Carrick's blood was found in a cooler there.
http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=574&topicId=100020825&docId=l:1026010179&start=2

[Faith]

Mother of missing teen dies after leukemia fight

November 22, 2009

JOHNSBURG – Terry Carrick believed in the redemptive value of suffering.

It was that belief and deep faith in God that helped her deal with the 2002 disappearance of her 17-year-old son Brian, who police believe was murdered.

And it was that faith she turned to when she was diagnosed with leukemia and lung cancer this summer.

“I saw her a week ago, and she was in a lot of pain,” said Cindy Nusser, a longtime friend of Terry Carrick’s. “But she was still the same feisty, Irish, happy person. She was resigned, but not in a giving-up way, but in a hopeful way of accepting God’s will.”

Terry Carrick, 65, died Saturday morning at University of Illinois Medical Center.

The mother of 14 children, Carrick was a longtime Johnsburg resident who was heavily involved with St. John the Baptist Catholic Church.

After Brian's disappearance, Carrick continued to search for answers, but she did not allow what happened to rule her life.

“My mom knew [the police] were working their hardest on the case,” said Bridget Carrick, her 19-year-old daughter. “She did find peace with it. It wasn’t consuming her life.”

Brian Carrick, a Johnsburg High School senior, last was seen walking into Val’s Food Inc., a grocery store, on Dec. 20, 2002, where he worked as a stock boy. Brian Carrick’s blood later was found in a produce cooler and in boxes from a trash compactor at the store. Although no one has been charged with killing Carrick, two people have faced charges related to the case.

Robert Render, 23, has been charged with concealing a homicide.

In August, perjury charges against Mario Casciaro were thrown out by McHenry County Judge Sharon Prather. Casciaro, who was 26, was accused of lying to a grand jury after he denied having a conversation about the case.

“I think she had a sense of forgiveness for anyone who was responsible for her son’s death,” Nusser said. “I also think she internalized a lot of suffering from what had happened.”

In the years since Brian’s disappearance, Bridget Carrick said her mother was able to keep herself busy with her children.

And she stayed active in the community, offering assistance to others.

When Cindy Nusser’s husband, Len, became ill and later died, Terry Carrick was there supporting the Nussers. The Johnsburg community hosted several fundraisers to help the family with medical bills.

“She was way too young to die,” Nusser said. “She was a very loving woman. You couldn’t ask for a more loyal friend.”

Nusser said her friend was disappointed after she found out about her illness that she would not be able to spend more time with her husband, William, in her later years.

"She had a heavy heart about that," Nusser said. "She thought that she was going to be able to stay home and enjoy Bill."

Bridget Carrick said that services had not been planned for her mother; the family is waiting for a sibling to return from school in Venezuela. She said that a service likely would be in late November or early December.

“She gave me 13 wonderful people who are a huge part of my life,” Bridget Carrick said. “She was a very strong person, and it came from her faith in God. She was a person who was adamant about everything she did in life.”

• • •

On the Net

A Web site for Terry Carrick has been set up at www.caringbridge.org/visit/terrycarrick.
http://www.nwherald.com/articles/2009/11/22/r_t0wohbnits6tyjk91aotlw/index.xml

[packy]

R.I.P. Terry

:1222423:

[Al Boe]

RIP Terry

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Chicago Daily Herald
January 16, 2010 Saturday

Charge dropped — for now — in concealment case

Prosecutors dismissed the case Friday against a McHenry man accused of concealing the homicide of missing Johnsburg teen Brian Carrick, but they said they are hopeful they’ll refile charges after further investigation.

For now, though, Robert Render, 24, is free of a charge of concealing a homicidal death that claimed he helped clean up evidence that Carrick was slain Dec. 20, 2002, the night he vanished after last being seen at a grocery store where he worked.

"We think there are a couple of issues with the case," Assistant McHenry County State’s Attorney Michael Combs said.

"We want to complete the investigation and put our best case forward. As the investigation goes forward, we hope to reinstate charges."

Combs said he could not fully discuss those issues because of the pending investigation, but he indicated the fact Carrick’s body has never been recovered was a factor.

Carrick, a 17-year-old Johnsburg High School student, disappeared seven years ago from Val’s Foods.

Render, who authorities believe was one of the last known people to see him alive, was accused of cleaning up what may have been blood in the store the next day. He denied the allegations.

His attorney, George Kililis, said Friday he knows dismissing the charge was "painful" for prosecutors, but it was the right decision.

"I know they desperately want this case resolved and to hold those responsible accountable," Kililis said.

"But I believe in my client’s innocence and think this decision was the correct one."

Kililis said that without a body, authorities cannot establish a time of death.

And without a time of death, they cannot prove Render or anyone else acted to conceal a homicide.

Combs said Carrick’s family and Johnsburg Police Chief Ken Rydberg were informed of prosecutors’ decision before Friday’s dismissal.

The charge against Render was a Class 3 felony punishable by two to five years in prison.

This is the second bitter bill in five months for Carrick’s family and law enforcement trying to solve his disappearance.

In August, Carrick’s former supervisor at Val’s, Mario Casciaro, 26, of McHenry, was acquitted of perjury charges alleging he lied to a grand jury when he denied knowledge of what happened to Carrick.
http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=574&topicId=100020825&docId=l:1109561276&start=11

[Nut44x4]

Lake Co. man linked to missing teen pleads guilty to drug charge
Published: 2/9/2010 3:32 PM

A Lake County man reportedly ready to testify against others in connection with the 2002 disappearance and suspected murder of a Johnsburg teen pleaded guilty to an unrelated drug charge Tuesday with no mention of an immunity deal sources say he recently struck with prosecutors.

Shane A. Lamb, 25, of Lake Bluff, was sentenced to six years in prison after admitting to an unlawful possession of cocaine charge stemming from a 2008 drug investigation in Spring Grove.

When prompted by the judge that accepted the plea deal, Assistant McHenry County State's Attorney Michael Combs said there were no other conditions to the plea agreement other than the prosecutor's office's dismissal of related drug charges and the 6-year term.

State's Attorney Louis Bianchi later said he could not address reports that Lamb, linked both in court documents and trial testimony to the 2002 disappearance of Brian Carrick, has agreed to testify against others involved in that matter.

"We're still pursuing the death investigation of Brian Carrick," Bianchi said.

Carrick, then 17, vanished Dec. 20, 2002, from Val's Foods, a Johnsburg grocery store where he worked. Police said they found traces of his blood and other indications of a struggle inside the business, but no other sign of the high school student.

Multiple sources familiar with the investigation said last week that Lamb recently reached a deal with county prosecutors in which he would receive immunity for his role in the killing in exchange for his testimony against at least one other suspect.

Lamb publicly was connected to the case in 2007 when Carrick's former supervisor at Val's, Mario A. Casciaro, 26, of McHenry, was indicted on perjury charges alleging he lied to a grand jury investigating what happened to Carrick.

During a trial last year, former friend Alan Lippert testified that Casciaro admitted he and Lamb played a part in the disappearance.

"I asked him, 'Is it true that you told (Lamb) to kill Brian?'" Lippert testified. "He said it wasn't even like that. He said that Brian owed him money and he told (Lamb) to scare him and that something happened, it got out of hand and there was an accident."

Casciaro denied ever making those statements and was found not guilty.

Lamb, who has been in the McHenry County jail since his April arrest on the drug charges, could be free in less than two years with his time already served and likely day-for-day credit for good behavior while in prison.

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=357948

[packy]

http://www.nwherald.com/articles/2010/02/26/04863166/index.xml


WOODSTOCK - Brian Carrick’s co-worker at a small grocery store was arrested today on charges allegeing that he murdered the 17-year-old Johnsburg boy seven years ago and tried to hide it.

Johnsburg police arrested Mario Casciaro, 26, of McHenry, about 4:30 p.m. today during a traffic stop in Fox Lake. Casciaro was indicted Thursday on five counts of first-degree murder and a single count of concealing Carrick’s homicide, McHenry County State’s Attorney Lou Bianchi announced.

The indictment alleges that Casciaro or someone for whose conduct he was legally accountable struck Carrick in the head, causing his death. Casciaro’s bail was $5 million, which would require posting $500,000 for release. He was expected to appear in rights court Saturday morning.

(More at link)

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Chicago Daily Herald
February 27, 2010 Saturday

McHenry man indicted in 2002 slaying of teen

McHenry County officials believe they’ve found the man responsible for one of their oldest unsolved homicides.

A grand jury indicted Mario Casciaro, of the 2700 block of North Patricia Lane, with first degree murder and concealment of a homicidal death in the 2002 slaying of 17-year-old Brian Carrick.

The indictment alleges Casciaro, or someone acting on his behalf, used intimidation and unlawful restraint in striking Carrick in the head, causing his death. Casciaro then concealed Carrick’s death despite knowing of the homicide, the indictment alleges.

Carrick vanished Dec. 20, 2002, from Val’s Foods, a Johnsburg grocery store where he worked. Casciaro was Carrick’s supervisor.

Police found traces of Carrick’s blood and other indications of struggle inside the grocery store, but no other sign of the high school student at the time of his disappearance.

Casciaro was arrested in Fox Lake on Friday by the Johnsburg Police Department. But the breakthrough in the case may have come from a deal recently struck by a third party involved in the homicide.

Multiple law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation have said Shane A. Lamb, 25, of Lake Bluff, has agreed to testify against Casciaro in exchange for immunity from prosecution for his own role in Carrick’s murder.

Lamb was recently sentence to six years in prison after admitting to an unlawful possession of cocaine charge in an unrelated drug investigation in Spring Grove.

Lamb is linked to the Carrick murder in both court documents and trial testimony from a 2007 indictment of Casciaro on perjury charges. The earlier indictment alleged Casciaro lied to a grand jury investigating what happened to Carrick.

Casciaro is being held on $5 million bond.
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[Nut44x4]

http://www.charleyproject.org/images/c/carrick_casciaro.jpg
Mario Casciaro

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Chicago Daily Herald
March 3, 2010 Wednesday

Man charged in teen’s murder won’t get lower bond, judge says

A Fox Lake business owner charged with murder in the 2002 disappearance of a teenage employee will remain locked up in the McHenry County jail after a Judge Tuesday refused to lower his $5 million bond.

McHenry County Judge Sharon Prather sided with prosecutors who said Mario Casciaro, 26, would have motive to flee if he goes free on a lower bond while awaiting trial on five counts of first-degree murder and one count of concealment of a homicidal death in the slaying of 17-year-old Brian Carrick.

Casciaro, of the 2700 block of North Patricia Lane in McHenry, will plead not guilty to the charges when he is arraigned Friday, said defense lawyer William Gibbs.

Carrick, then a high school student, vanished Dec. 20, 2002, from Val’s Foods, a grocery store near his Johnsburg home. Casciaro, who now owns a Val’s Foods in Fox Lake, was his supervisor at the time. Traces of Carrick’s blood were found in the store, but there has been no other sign of him since.

The charges allege he, or someone for whom he was legally responsible, struck Carrick in the head during an act of intimidation and unlawful restraint, causing his death. Casciaro then concealed the slaying, the indictment states.

Gibbs argued Tuesday that the $5 million bond his client has been held on since his arrest Friday was unreasonable given Casciaro’s status as a longtime McHenry County resident and his willingness to surrender his passport and follow any other conditions imposed by the court.

"He has cooperated fully throughout this investigation," he said. "He is not a flight risk in any way. It’s been seven years and during that time Mr. Casciaro has not fled the jurisdiction."

Assistant McHenry County State’s Attorney Michael Combs, however, said Casciaro now faces more than 60 years in prison if found guilty, providing motive to flee that was not there previously.

"We do not believe that this is an excessive bond based on the nature of the offense," Combs said.

Prosecutors did not provide any additional details about the alleged murder or the investigation that led to Casciaro’s arrest, as is often the case during bond reduction hearings.

Gibbs declined to comment on the allegations, other than to note that Casciaro is charged under an accountability theory, meaning he may not be accused of striking the fatal blow.

"That means there’s a principal (offender) out there somewhere," he said.

Among family members on both sides in court Friday was Carrick’s father, William Carrick, who said his family was relieved to learn of Casciaro’s arrest last week. Asked about the long wait for an arrest since his son’s disappearance, he said, "It didn’t bother me."

"I knew that justice would eventually be served," he added. "What really bothers me is that this entire affair was totally unnecessary. It was just a stupid act."

The major break in the seven-year investigation appears to have come in recent months when, multiple law enforcement officials said, longtime suspect Shane Lamb agreed to cooperate in exchange for immunity for his role in the incident. A witness in prior criminal proceedings against Casciaro testified that the businessman told him he asked Lamb to scare Carrick, things got out of hand and "an accident" happened.
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