PEKIN, Ill. – Tazewell County law enforcement leaders discuss a break in the case regarding the death of a 13-year-old Pekin boy nearly a decade ago.
48-year-old Keith Brackett has been charged with two counts of First Degree Murder and one count of Concealment of Homicidal Death in the 2016 death of Robert Bee.
Brackett is charged with two counts of First Degree Murder and one count of Concealment of Homicidal Death, and has a court appearance Thursday.
Bee went missing in November of 2016, and his remains were discovered in a wooded area near Pekin in July of 2017. Court documents state Bee’s death was due to asphyxiation, and that Brackett allegedly had a friendship with Bee, despite the age difference.
“People never did stop working on this throughout this almost now entire ten years,” said Tazewell County State’s Attorney Kevin Johnson. “So I want the community to know, I know it’s frustrating, but we have now reached a point in time where we can move forward.”
Johnson was Chief Assistant State’s Attorney when the case began, and says he was notified about Bee’s disappearance when it occurred.
Johnson says people may have been conditioned over the years by television and movies that murder cases can be solved quickly. But he notes that murder cases never have a statute of limitation, and can take as long as it takes to solve, whether that’s in weeks, months, or years.
Johnson also says he understands people were frustrated with how long it was taking to reach this point.
Pekin Police Chief Seth Ranney says the case has always been a top priority for his department. At a press conference announcing the arrest on Wednesday, Ranney said the case was one of the most manpower intensive cases the department has ever had.
Ranney adds that there was always activity in solving the case, whether in the public eye or not.
“It’s just very important that sometimes what the public doesn’t see, doesn’t mean that things aren’t happening,” Ranney said. “We’re working with other agencies and other officers and other departments to accomplish what we’re trying to do.”
On Wednesday, Ranney also credited Tazewell County Coroner Charles Hanley, Tazewell County Sheriff Jeff Lower, and the Springfield FBI office.
Ranney also credited Pekin City Manager John Dossey, who was Pekin’s police chief when the case was first reported. Dossey says Wednesday was “justice” for Robert Bee.
Dossey says Wednesday’s arrest brought some peace to him, and adds he’s proud of the police department for continuing to work on the case after he left. Dossey says he was also one of the first people to know about the arrest, and stayed in communication with Ranney throughout the investigation, knowing how important it was to Dossey.
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