Family of missing Byron man searching the Rock River area daily

‘None of us have worked, going on a month now’

BYRON – Some members of Brandon Cuddy’s family haven’t worked a day since he disappeared.

Every day from 8 a.m. until dark, Cuddy’s girlfriend, Hailee Lind, his siblings, Billy Cuddy and Kat Licona, and his cousin Josh Niedermeier search along state Route 2 and the Rock River.

Cuddy, 27, of Byron, went missing the night of Dec. 26. His damaged car was found covered in snow Jan. 6 on a steep bank of the river in the 9000 block of Route 2 in rural Byron.

The next 2 days, searches by law enforcement and the family came up empty.

“We’ve been searching every single day since,” Lind said. “None of us have worked, going on a month now. We bought a boat and have been on the water. We talked to nonprofits who have helped out with searching equipment on the river. Any daylight we have, we’re searching on foot. We dug up the crash site to find his belongings.”

They’ve searched from Rockford to Byron, along the river along near Lake Louise and in other other wooded areas. Twice on Saturdays, community members came out to help. One of those days, 96 volunteers showed up.

“The community has been so amazing,” Lind said. “Every day they reach out. It’s, ‘Please use my truck! Take my boat’ .. people that don’t even know him.”

So far, the group has found some of Cuddy’s belongings, including a shoe and his cologne. They found his phone after digging around the crash site.

Those discoveries were more discouraging than helpful, Lind said.

“That’s the most traumatic thing,” she said. “People were saying he got flung into the river or he walked away. We found one shoe and it was terrible. That was the moment for us. He’s not here. It was horrible. You’d think if he walked away, he’d take his phone and shoes.”

The family found Cuddy’s vehicle while in a boat searching the river. It was 10 feet from the water and down a hill.

“There’s no words for it,” Lind said. “It was completely heartbreaking. I thought his dad was going to jump into the river and swim to it when we first saw it. I can barely remember that day, looking back.”

Lind is disappointed with the amount of time law enforcement has searched, before and after Cuddy’s vehicle was found. She said police told her all of Rote 2 in the area was searched, but to her, that didn’t add up.

“If that was true, wouldn’t they have found the car?” Lind said. “Then after we found the car, they got the dog out. They said the chances are he’s in the river and ‘the best we can do is go on with our everyday lives.’”

The day after the car was found, Ogle County Sheriff Brian VanVickle said that he was concerned that Cuddy may have ended up in the river given the damage and its proximity to the water, and that river searches were going to be difficult because of the weather and the amount of ground to cover.

“We understand they deserve closure, and we understand their concerns,” VanVickle said. “We continue to go through the process of a river search and leads that come in. It’s not a closed case by any stretch.”

Lind said the family hasn’t been told anything about a river search going forward.

“An Ogle County cop told me maybe in the spring he’ll be found when someone goes fishing.”

Lind said she’s started to feel the effects of constant searching in more ways than one.

“It is exhausting, physically and emotionally. Looking for a loved one’s body, it takes a toll. We have to block it out, and it’s up to us. His parents have been out and they’re older. So emotionally draining. It’s been a long 3 and a half weeks.”

To help with search efforts, Lind asks that people follow the Facebook page Locate Brandon Cuddy or donate to a GoFundMe account at gofundme.com/f/finding-brandon-cuddy established to pay expenses such as buying a boat.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Ogle County Sheriff’s Office at 815-732-2136 or Ogle-Lee Crime Stoppers at 888-228-4488.