Deputy Ed Norman was on his way into work at approximately 0730 on 22nd July 1992. He was travelling on County Road 4, near the bridge between Clinton and Kimberly. Just after crossing the bridge, he saw a teenage woman hitchhiking and walking into Kimberly. She was alone, and didn’t appear to be in any distress when he saw her. A few hours later, after he had picked up his patrol car, he answered a call for service to report a missing person. He responded to a residence in Clinton where he met with Mrs. Kathleen Willing. Mrs. Willing advised him that her teenage daughter, Brittany, had left home earlier that morning heading to a friend’s house, and now she could not be located. The friend told Mrs. Willing that she had not seen Brittany, and Mrs. Willing immediately called the sheriff’s department. Her description was broadcast across the county as a missing person, and before long another local teenager contacted Sheriff’s Dispatch with information. A deputy responded out to take her statement, and she related to him that she had seen Brittany just across the bridge into Kimberly at approximately 8:15 AM while she was on her way to her boyfriend’s house in Kimberly. The teenage girl reported she turned around as soon as possible, but a grey Chevy sedan was seen pulling away from where Brittany had been standing, and Brittany was gone. The teenager was unable to relate a license tag or any other identifying information, describing the vehicle as normal in every appearance. The SCSD continued to search for Brittany Willing, searching the river as well as questioning friends and family. The prevailing belief among investigators was that she was a juvenile runaway.

Five days later, on the 27th of July, a security patrolman at a warehouse in Clinton found a grey Chevy sedan with a missing tag abandoned in the back of the property. He summoned the Shiloh County Sheriff’s Department, and Deputy Ed Norman again responded. Below is a statement from Deputy Norman’s report.

“I arrived on scene and met with OFC. Jones from Clinton Security. He related to me that he found an abandoned grey Chevy sedan on the warehouse property. OFC Jones escorted me to the vehicle. Vehicle was noted to be a 1985 Chevy Caprice, grey in color. The vehicle appeared to match the description provided in the missing Willing girl case. I found the vehicle to be unlocked and searched the passenger compartment, finding nothing of interest. Upon opening the trunk in order to complete the vehicle search, I found a deceased white female, appearing to be in her teens. Victim was noted to have been stabbed in the torso multiple times. I immediately secured the crime scene and summoned investigators to the scene…”

Investigators from the Shiloh County Sheriff’s Department responded to the scene and confirmed that the body was in fact the missing teenager, Brittany Willing. Investigators searched the vehicle and the area, and did not find anyone they could associate with the vehicles. Crime scene technicians processed the scene, but very little was found. Investigators made several statements asking the public for any information regarding the disappearance or the vehicle, but ultimately no one ever came forward. The Brittany Willing case is widely regarded as the loss of innocence for the Clinton and Kimberly areas, bringing to light the growth in population and the crime that came with it. The case remains open, and is a cold case for the Shiloh County Sheriff’s Department.