PEORIA, Ill. – The Peoria County Sheriff’s Office has released new information about the drowning death of 14-year-old Leron Griffin.
Peoria County Sheriff Chris Watkins says during the course of an investigation, officers learned Griffin had been a passenger in a stolen vehicle, out of Bloomington, that fled from Canton Police around 4 a.m. on July 4.
A pursuit led Canton Police into Peoria County, where the vehicle wrecked at the intersection of Adams and Route 24 in Bartonville around 4:17 a.m. Police say the vehicle rolled several times.
The driver, a 14-year-old juvenile, was immediately arrested by Canton PD. Dashcam footage obtained by investigators showed a passenger crawling out of a window of the vehicle, and running towards Rosaria Street in Bartonville.
The passenger shown in the dashcam video was wearing what appears to be the same clothing as Leron Griffin was wearing when his body was found in the Illinois River. There were only two people inside the vehicle when it crashed.
Officers checking the area said they saw someone fitting the suspect’s description running across the street in front of the McDonalds in Bartonville. Video obtained from the restaurant shows the male crossing the street in front of the business. Several minutes later, an officer said he again saw the male walking on the shoulder of eastbound 474 (the southside), but the individual ran into the woods when he spotted a squad car.
East Peoria Police sent a K9 unit to the area after the crash, helping to track the passenger, but they were never found. The Peoria County Sheriff’s Office also responded and assisted in the search.
On July 6, around 9:30 a.m., a man fishing on the Illinois River near Liberty Steel, found Griffin’s body floating next to the dam.
Peoria County investigators interviewed the juvenile driver as part of their investigation after Leron Griffin was found dead. The driver said Griffin was his passenger during the pursuit with Canton Police, and that he ran off after the crash.
Sheriff Watson says the two juveniles had gone to Macomb in the stolen vehicle to see family and then Canton where the pursuit began.
Watson says after reviewing all the information that’s been gathered, their investigation shows Leron Griffin ran off from the stolen vehicle that crashed in Bartonville and most likely drowned from trying to cross the river near the dam.
The area has a strong current due to the dam at that location.
Griffin had apparently been staying with his grandmother and was not reported missing at the time police discovered his body in the river.
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