Vernon O’Neal Was Abducted on a Sunday Night — His Body Was Found the Next Morning
East St. Louis ➝ Washington Park, Illinois — October 18–19, 2009
Twenty-four-year-old Vernon O’Neal disappeared under circumstances that immediately suggested something was terribly wrong.
On the evening of Sunday, October 18, 2009, Vernon, who lived in Madison, Illinois, was abducted near the intersection of 10th Street and Bond Avenue in East St. Louis.
What happened to him during the hours that followed remains one of the unanswered pieces of his case.
Vernon Is Found the Next Morning
At approximately 11:50 a.m. on October 19, Vernon’s body was discovered miles away on the front porch of a burned-out house near Balydier Avenue and 42nd Street in Washington Park.
Vernon had been shot to death.
Someone had taken a 24-year-old man against his will, killed him, and then left his body outside an abandoned, fire-damaged home.
More Than 16 Years Without Answers
The circumstances surrounding Vernon’s abduction and murder remain largely a mystery.
Investigators still need answers about who took him, why he was targeted, where he was taken during the hours between his abduction and death, and why his body was left at that particular house.
No one has ever been charged with Vernon’s murder, and his case remains an open, unsolved homicide.
Investigators continue to seek information from anyone who may know what happened that Sunday night, including anyone who may have witnessed Vernon’s abduction, knows who he was with, saw suspicious activity near the burned-out house, or heard someone discussing his murder afterward.
Vernon O’Neal was only 24 years old when he was taken from one Illinois community and found murdered in another less than a day later.
More than 16 years have passed, and the people responsible have never been held accountable.
Anyone with information regarding the abduction and murder of Vernon O’Neal can anonymously contact St. Louis Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-866-371-TIPS (8477).
© The Vivid Faces of the Vanished