10th anniversary memorial planned for Streator boy

STREATOR, Ill. (AP) — The central Illinois city of Streator plan to mark the tenth anniversary of the bludgeoning death of a 7-year-old boy with a memorial.

The Pantagraph in Bloomington reports (http://bit.ly/16N5PUR) that a memorial is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Saturday outside the Streator City Hall for Dalton Mesarchik. The boy was abducted from his front yard in Streator on March 26, 2003. A fisherman found his body in the Vermilion River the next day. An autopsy showed the boy was beaten to death with a 3-pound sledgehammer that could only be purchased at a Kmart.

The boy's mother, Michelle Mesarchik, says she's still hopeful and organized the vigil to keep her son's memory alive.

A Pontiac-based state police task force continues to investigate the death.

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Information from: The Pantagraph, http://www.pantagraph.com