Crime & Safety

When Leads Run Dry, Sheriff's Office Turns to Most-Wanted List

The McHenry County Sheriff's Office Fugitive Apprehension Unit has been placing information and mug shots of McHenry County's most-wanted suspect on its website since 2008.

From murder to drug charges to heinous sexual assaults, some of McHenry County's most-wanted crime suspects have been on the lam for nearly a decade. 

When the McHenry County Sheriff's Office has exhausted all leads in catching the fugitive, it has one last outlet that has proven beneficial in bringing into custody a handful of its most dangerous suspects in recent years: its most-wanted list. 

The McHenry County Sheriff Office Apprehension Unit since 2008 has posted a list of the top 10 most-wanted suspects in McHenry County on its website. .

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The list has led to five or six arrests since its initiation, said Sgt. Anthony Penna of the fugitive apprehension unit.

"It has helped us capture a handful," Penna said. "Plus, we get between two to three tips a month." 

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While it's easy to see why some landed on the list, such as Roberto Valdez-Calixto, 32, who is considered the most-wanted suspect in McHenry County. He is accused of stabbing to death Cecilio Hernandez after a game of basketball and afternoon of drinking with his buddies in February 2005 outside of Harvard, according to the Chicago Tribune. 

Others might not seem as obvious, such as No. 6, Michael A. Ryan, who is wanted on a charge of unlawful possession of a motor vehicle.

"He is believed to be armed and dangerous and has an extensive criminal history," Penna said. 

Those on the list have one or more of the following factors in common:

  • They are wanted on a felony charge and likely on Class Two or higher — the court system’s most serious charges;
  • The crime usually is violent in nature and/or a drug or sex offense;
  • The sheriff’s office has information that the fugitive might be in the area or have friends or family in the area;
  • Lastly, the criminal could have multiple warrants and/or be wanted for questioning in an ongoing criminal investigation. 

Penna said few of the fugitives stay in or around town. So the website and the list also can help get information out to those in different states and countries that would be searching online for information about the most-wanted criminals. 

"If they stay local, we will usually get that person," he said.

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