1 dead, suspect arrested in Ohio, Ill. after reported kidnapping of 10-month-old child

‘There is no longer a threat to the community,’ sheriff’s office says

Bureau County Sheriff officers gather at the scene of an incident in the 200 block of E. Long Street on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022 in Ohio, Ill. A suspect is in custody and there is no longer a threat to the community, the Bureau County Sheriff’s Office told Ohio Community School District.

A 31-year-old Ohio, Illinois man was arrested after an hourslong standoff early Monday after police identified him as the suspect of a kidnapping of a 10-month-old child and the death of a 69-year-old man found dead at a village intersection.

Matthew J. Pairadee was taken into custody at his residence at 206 E. Long St., the Bureau County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release Monday afternoon, after several hours of negotiations with the Bureau County Sheriff’s Office and Illinois State Police failed. Pairadee refused to come out of the house, the sheriff’s office said, who then deployed chemical agents into the house. The sheriff’s office said he had barricaded himself into the basement of the house.

Pairadee is being held at the Bureau County Jail pending charges.

Police responded 6:03 p.m. Sunday to a report that a 10-month-old child was taken by a noncustodial parent, the sheriff’s office said. Upon their arrival, they found the body of the 69-year-old man laying near the intersection of West Railroad and Elm streets. His name is being withheld until his family is notified, according to the sheriff’s office.

The Ohio Community School District canceled classes Monday to give way to the ongoing police response that began Sunday evening, resulting in a command center being set up at the Ohio grade school. The school district said on Facebook the sheriff’s office said there was no longer a threat to the community and classes were to resume Tuesday. An extra social worker will be available.

The death and kidnapping is under investigation by the Bureau County Sheriff’s Office, the Illinois State Police and the Bureau County Coroner’s Office. Agencies assisting in the incident include the Princeton police and fire departments, Princeton EMS, the Bureau County Emergency Management Agency, Buda Police Department, Walnut and Wyanet fire departments and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Conservation Police.

Ohio, which has a population of about 465 people, is located on Route 26 about 13 miles north of Princeton.

While much of the heightened police presence had left the small town Monday morning, the effects of what happened the night before was still felt by local residents.

“I don’t think anybody got any sleep last night,” Ohio resident Megan Lafferty said. “There was a very, very heavy police presence in town.”

Lafferty said residents of the town, like many others in the area, were left wondering what took place in their community.

“When you are in a small town and they tell you to stay inside, what does everybody do? They go out to see it,” Lafferty said. “It’s hard to stomach, still hard to fathom and wrap your head around.”

Lafferty said the events that took place over Sunday night and early Monday were something the “farm town” would have never expected. When police began showing up to the area, residents began listening to the scanner to find out what was going on around them.

“It’s just kind of the shock of it all,” Lafferty said. “You don’t really think that it could happen here and then you have something like that happen and it’s just heartbreaking.”

As of late Monday morning, a construction crew was at the home boarding up windows under the supervision of a Bureau County sheriff’s deputy and Crime Scene Investigation officers.