April 29, 2025
Archive

Mystery man likely a truck driver

By David Giuliani

Sauk Valley Media reporter David Giuliani covers the Whiteside and Lee county governments, Morrison and other smaller communities. He can be reached at dgiuliani@saukvalley or at 800-798-4085, ext. 525.

We are trying to get all of the information we can on Rita Crundwell, the former Dixon city comptroller accused of misappropriating millions in city funds.

And we're finding what we can on those close to her.

In a recent item, I wrote that her former husband, Jerry Crundwell, is a mystery man.

He's becoming less of one, thanks to tips from readers.

In 1987, Rita Crundwell filed for divorce against her husband, who, she told the court, had moved to Salem months before. She got to keep their house and Oldsmobile. He got the pickup truck.

Their 1974 marriage announcement identified him as being an engineer with a firm that now has offices in Decatur, Rockford and Chicago.

I spoke with an engineer who has been with that firm since 1982, and he said he knew no one by the name of Crundwell.

One reader called to tell me that Crundwell had left engineering and became a truck driver.

Another reader said Jerry Crundwell's name shows up in online court records. Admittedly, I should have checked there in the first place.

In 1990, Crundwell got a ticket for an overweight vehicle violation in Lee County, indicating he was a truck driver.  In 2000, he was cited for disregarding a traffic light in Whiteside County.

Ogle County records indicated he got a ticket there in 1994, but it appeared as if authorities didn't follow through on it.

His birthday is Feb. 10, 1940, according to the records. At 72, he is probably now retired.

I also looked at the records in Marion County, where Salem is. Other Crundwells are listed, but not Jerry. So he likely kept his nose clean in his hometown, where he graduated high school in 1958.

His brother died in Florida in February, and Jerry Crundwell was listed as one of the survivors in the obituary.

But we still don't know where Jerry Crundwell lives. Do you?

Sauk Valley Media reporter David Giuliani covers the Whiteside and Lee county governments, Morrison and other smaller communities. He can be reached at dgiuliani@saukvalley or at 800-798-4085, ext. 525.