New cause of death sealed from public for man found in Galesburg drainage ditch 7 years ago

GALESBURG, Ill. – A second autopsy for a man found dead in a Galesburg drainage ditch in 2018 uncovered a new cause of death, but remains sealed from the public on the seventh anniversary of his death.

Tyler Smith, 23, was reported missing in Galesburg on the morning of Sep. 15, 2018, after he failed to arrive at his friend’s house the night prior, following an evening of drinking at nearby bars.

Later that day, a passerby discovered Tyler’s body less than a half-mile from where he was last seen with friends.

Investigators with the Galesburg Police Department quickly ruled Tyler’s death an accidental drowning due to him being face down in water, police reports show.

The first autopsy was performed by Dr. Amanda Youmans in Peoria the following day, affirming the original assessment by investigators: Drowning.

“The cause of death of this 23-year-old male, Tyler L. Smith, is drowning. He was found deceased face down in a creek. There is no evidence of assault. The blunt force injuries are superficial and do not cause or contribute to his death.” – Dr. Youmans

Nearly two years later, in July 2020, Tyler’s body was exhumed for a second autopsy after persistent requests from his family and other officials who shared serious doubt regarding the accuracy and thoroughness of the autopsy as well as the handling of the investigation by Galesburg Police.

Meanwhile, Illinois State Police took over the investigation despite Galesburg Police maintaining there was no foul play.

Now, more than five years after the second autopsy revealed fatal injuries not noted in the first report, state police wants to keep the results sealed from the public amid their active investigation.

Although I have obtained a copy of the second autopsy report, I have decided not to publish the results out of respect for the integrity of the ongoing investigation. This decision was made in consultation with Tyler’s family and state police.

Never-before-seen files from the initial investigation I have obtained show how the Galesburg Police Department failed to thoroughly investigate the circumstances surrounding Tyler’s death, leaving more questions than answers for the family.

It took a dedicated family and retired law enforcement officer to compel authorities to order a new autopsy with state police opening a new investigation.

To help tell this story, I have interviewed Tyler’s mother, the retired officer who investigated Tyler’s death, and the coroner who was in office for both autopsies.

Who is Tyler Smith?

Tyler was an active and ambitious child growing up in Rochelle, Illinois.

From the age of four and all the way through high school, his mother Sandra Halsne told me Tyler played in all sports from soccer and baseball to football and hockey.

But beyond the usual childhood dream of becoming a professional athlete, Sandra says from the time he was a first-grader, Tyler always wanted to become a police officer and join the U.S. Army.

“He was just very active, loved to be on the go,” Sandra said. “He was a good kid, he got good grades.” Adding, “He never got in trouble, had lots of friends. Those friends always said he was kind of the glue to the whole group.”

Tyler’s active and team-oriented spirit stuck with him beyond graduation.

“When he would come home, he would kind of get everybody together,” Sandra said. “He liked to laugh. As he got older, he did more sports. He jumped out of airplanes. He skydived. He scuba dived. He was physically fit, he liked to workout.”

Sandra says not only did Tyler excel in athletics and schoolwork, but also with his character and how he carried himself.

“He had friends of all walks of life, he got along with everyone,” Sandra said. “He really didn’t judge anybody, he really wasn’t into judgmental things. He was mixed race so, you know, I know there was a few times he came across some issues with race and judgment and I think he just knew that that’s not the way he wanted to live life.”

After graduating from high school in 2014, Tyler went on to pursue his dream of joining the U.S. Army and becoming a police officer. He enlisted in the National Guard and, in 2018, earned a degree in Criminal Justice from Western Illinois University.

Another dream of Tyler’s was to live in California, so he took an internship with the San Jose Police Department in the summer of 2018 when Sandra says he worked multiple part-time jobs on top of the internship consisting of four 10 hour workdays, to afford an apartment.

Sandra says, in August 2018, out of about 5,000 applicants, Tyler was selected as one of 50 applicants to be accepted into the academy for San Jose Police.

Weeks later, Tyler returned to Illinois for National Guard training in Macomb and to pickup the remainder of his belongings in Rochelle to bring back to California and make it his permanent home. He was set to start the academy in San Jose in October.

Tyler would never see California again.

The Facts.

The following information is based on Galesburg police reports, an investigation led by a retired law enforcement officer, and details provided by Tyler’s mother.

On Friday, Sep. 14, 2018, Tyler originally planned to stay the night in Macomb, Illinois with fellow guardsmen to report to National Guard training the following morning. However, upon arrival in Illinois from California, Tyler would learn there would actually not be enough room for him to sleep, forcing him to change plans.

Instead of staying the night in his hometown Rochelle, which is nearly a two hour drive from Macomb, Tyler made plans to stay the night at his friend EH’s home in Galesburg, cutting the drive time in half.

With plans set, Tyler, EH and friends spent the evening drinking alcohol at multiple bars in Galesburg. At around 10:42 p.m., Tyler is seen on camera with friends while withdrawing $100 from an ATM.

^{Tyler seen on camera using ATM (Wells Fargo)}

Police reports show Tyler and EH left the bar Corner Connection by foot shortly after 11:30 p.m. but for an unknown reason went in separate directions. EH told police he remembered walking out of the bar but did not remember walking with Tyler, saying he himself, ‘has never been as drunk as he was on that night,’ and walked home.

RS, who was living with EH, confirmed to police she had received a call from EH around 12:06 a.m. because he gave his keys to Tyler earlier that night and was locked out. RS told police she helped EH to the couch where he laid down and went to bed.

RS asked EH where Tyler was but EH said he thought he was getting a ride home. RS says she stayed awake until 2:30 a.m. waiting for Tyler but then went to bed.

Meanwhile, at around 11:48 p.m., Tyler is seen on video surveillance walking alone past a Casey’s gas station, which is located in the opposite direction of EH relative to Corner Connection.

^{Tyler walking past gas station toward creek. (Casey’s)}

A couple minutes later, at around 11:50 p.m., a Galesburg Police squad car is seen driving through the Casey’s parking lot then onto the road in the direction Tyler was walking.

^{Galesburg squad car driving in direction of Tyler. (Casey’s)}

Meanwhile, unusual activity was registered on Tyler’s iPhone from about 11:50 p.m. to 11:52 p.m. including two random images being sent from his Snapchat.

Also, the health app on Tyler’s phone recorded a sudden increase in the pace of his steps before abruptly ending at 11:52.

There were no signs of activity registered on Tyler’s phone beyond 11:52 p.m. marking his likely time of death.

Through a records request obtaining dispatch logs and badge numbers I was able to identify the officer in the squad car seen on video as Allison Buccalo, G170, affirming she was at Casey’s around 11:50 p.m.

UNIT HISTORY G170 Download

There is no evidence Buccalo was involved in Tyler’s death, nor is there any indication she witnessed what happened to him.

At around 11:30 the next morning, EH contacted police and filed a missing person report for Tyler after several calls went unanswered despite needing to be in Macomb for drill.

Shortly before 2 p.m., Galesburg Police Sgt. Worsfold made several unanswered calls to Tyler and asked dispatch to have the phone company ping his phone, of which came back with a location of .34 miles west of the tower at 100 N. Cherry St.

Worsfold noted in his report he had Officer Kisler, ‘check this area with negative results.’ They also checked the now-shuttered Broadview Hotel, but Tyler was still nowhere to be found a little more than 14 hours after walking past Casey’s.

Shortly before 7 p.m., a passerby called 911 to report they discovered a body in the Cedar Creek drainage ditch about .26 miles west of the tower, which is within 500 feet of the ping for Tyler’s phone.

^{Passerby calls 911} ^{to report body (Galesburg Public Safety)}

***Perspective of 911 caller; Tyler’s body could be seen face down near the right wall across from where building on left ends.***

*Tyler walked about a half-mile to the location he died in about 20 minutes between leaving* the bar and arriving at the drainage ditch.

***Tyler was last seen on camera about 580 feet from where he would be found dead the following evening.***

Dereliction of Duty.

Galesburg Police initially believed Tyler died by accidental drowning. An autopsy was expedited for the following day, Sunday, Sep. 16, 2018. And after the pathologist ruled Tyler’s cause of death was drowning, the case was essentially closed.

Police reports show evidence was not collected, documented nor stored. And there were no attempts to obtain video footage from buildings in the neighborhood nor along the path Tyler walked. His belongings were also returned immediately to the family.

Ultimately, police returned to the investigation, but only at the persistent request of Tyler’s mother Sandra.

“I just [had] this feeling something’s wrong,” Sandra said. “I would reach out to the investigator and I was like ‘Hey, I came across where Tyler uses ATM card. He pulled out $100. Can you check those cameras?'”

A search warrant for the ATM footage was issued Sep. 24 but when the DVD was received in late October, investigators claimed Tyler was not captured on video despite Sandra having a receipt for the withdrawal at that machine.

In November, Sandra drove from Rochelle to Galesburg to ask investigators if cameras in the area have been checked.

Investigators informed Sandra that Tyler wasn’t on the ATM footage and when they checked the Casey’s footage, he wasn’t on there either.

In an attempt to calm tensions, the investigator offered to watch the ATM footage with Tyler’s parents in the office to prove they had watched it and confirmed Tyler was not captured on camera.

But, sure enough, Tyler appeared on camera withdrawing cash.

Investigators blamed technical errors, but this was not enough for Sandra.

“It’s freaking November! We were told that he went down there and Tyler wasn’t on anything,” Sandra said. “We were told that all these cameras were checked. Nothing’s been checked. Nothing’s been done.”

Sandra had her last straw with Galesburg Police and threatened to file a complaint.

“We were completely lied to,” Sandra said. “When we were here two weeks after Tyler died, I asked if he checked those cameras. And he said, we would do it. Why wouldn’t you? I’m down there for two seconds and see there’s signs all over saying there’s surveillance cameras.”

Amid the fallout from the lack of obtaining surveillance footage in the area, Sandra demanded all documents related to her son’s case and that she was finished with Galesburg Police. She also asked if Illinois State Police could take over the case, but Galesburg insisted that requesting state police would not be necessary.

In response, from December through March, Galesburg investigators followed leads provided by Sandra and conducted new interviews. They also tried obtaining video footage from a shop across the street from Casey’s. However, it was too late and the footage had already been overwritten.

Due to the ongoing investigation by Illinois State Police I am unable to talk further about the details regarding the interviews conducted during this period.

The Casey’s footage included in this article was obtained after Sandra asked the manager if police had sought the footage. She claims the manager told her they did not, but was able to turn over the video showing Tyler walking past the station toward the creek. Two of the identifiers are the light colored shoes and sweater.

What happened to Tyler Smith?

Newly-retired police officer from Cook County, Ill. Mitchell Drake, who has nearly a decade of experience in death and homicide investigations, agreed to offer his services without pay in order to remain unbiased after a friend of his, unrelated to Tyler’s family, asked him to look into the case.

Drake spoke publicly in 2019 about how Galesburg Police didn’t follow protocol and urged the department to request state police to take over the investigation.

“[State police] has to be requested to come in on a case,” Drake said to me. “And Galesburg Police refused to do that. It just flat refused. And so there was a lot of delay in that and involved a lot of arm twisting on my part.”

Illinois State Police eventually took over Tyler’s case in early 2020 despite Galesburg’s objections.

“There was never an official request from Galesburg Police Department for the state police to come in,” Drake said. “So I’ll give the state police credit for that because they kind of stretched their own policy on that. Galesburg never ended up requesting it.”

Although Drake has already spoke publicly about Tyler’s case, this is the first time he is speaking out after being present for the second autopsy in July 2020.

“It’s definitely some sort of homicide,” Drake said. “I don’t know if they intended to kill him or not, but I think that there’s some sort of fight for whatever reason, either as a robbery attempt or something that might have been racially motivated.”

Drake has also been outspoken about Galesburg’s handling of Tyler’s case.

“It was probably one of the sloppiest death investigations I’ve ever encountered,” Drake said. “To the point of deceiving the victim’s family by saying they had conducted investigative steps they had never taken.”

Mark Thomas spent two decades as Knox County Coroner and retired last year.

Although Thomas did not want to comment directly on the department’s handling of Tyler’s case, he did admit it was ‘unusual’ relative to all the other cases.

“From our side working together in death investigations, I can tell you that it was not the norm that they quickly make a decision on cases,” said Thomas, referring to Galesburg investigators immediately ruling Tyler’s death an accidental drowning and forgoing an investigation.

Thomas confirmed to me he officially changed Tyler’s death certificate to include the new cause of death discovered in the second autopsy, along with ‘drowning.’ But added, the manner of death remains Undetermined. He told me both Accident and Homicide are equally on the table as potential outcomes in this case.

This summer, Illinois State Police told me they are ‘actively’ following tangible leads in relation to Tyler’s death, but could not provide any details. Adding, the concealment of details from the second autopsy, and subsequent new cause of death, preserve the integrity of the investigation when they need to conduct interviews.

Sandra told me as much as she wants justice for her son, at minimum she hopes bringing attention to this case could help prevent similar mistakes by law enforcement agencies from happening to another family.

I reached out to both former Chief David Christensen, and current Chief Kevin Legate, multiple times but they did not respond to my request for an interview.

PART TWO COMING SOON.

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