ST JACOB, Ill. — The family of a Metro East man killed in a motorcycle crash is demanding answers about what caused their son's death.
July 19, 2022, the Krozel family's life was turned upside down when their son Chris was killed in a motorcycle crash outside of St. Jacob.
"We were heartbroken,” said Jozefa Krozel. “We love our son very much. It's still very hard to go through that."
According to the coroner's report, Chris Krozel had a BAC of .13 at the time of the crash.
That's a little over one-and-a-half times Illinois' legal limit of .08.
"Young people make mistakes,” said Andrzej Krozel. “We were expressing all of the time not to drink alcohol and drive."
Though the Krozel's know Chris was last seen at a St. Jacob bar, Lucky Rooster, drinking before the crash, video from the bar told the family the extent of his consumption.
"For one-and-a-half hours he was sipping two beers,” said Andrzej Krozel “Then he was sitting for at least another hour not drinking anything."
"Did anybody indicate if he was drinking before he got there?” asked 5 On Your Side reporter Holden Kurwicki.
"They said he must've drank at work,” said Andrzej Krozel.
In an effort to get a clearer picture of Chris' final hours, the Krozel family requested more information from the Madison County Coroner’s office.
"The investigator in this case left the camera on the back of his car,” said Shane Liley, Chief Investigator for the Madison Co. Coroner’s office. “As he began to pull away from the scene the camera fell off, and it was run over by another emergency vehicle and completely destroyed.”
Chief Investigator Shane Liley still has what’s left of the camera.
“As bad as we regret that happened, it did happen,” said Liley.
However, Liley feels like it’s important to note that the coroner’s report doesn’t list drunk driving as the cause of the crash.
“We have deer, we have raccoons, we have opossums,” said Liley. “There are just a number of things that could cause him to become distracted, swerve, and cause the crash.”
“There is something missing in this thing for us as parents who lost a child,” said Andrzej Krozel.
“In their pursuit to make this nightmare make sense I don’t know that they’re ever going to find those answers and they’re not alone,” said Liley.
As Chris' family continues their quest to try to piece together what may have led up to his crash that night they're asking anyone with information to share it here.