STREATOR - Livingston County authorities may look to see if a Missouri man accused of kidnapping two boys had any connection to an unsolved murder in the county.

Livingston County Sheriff Bob McCarty said the department will look to see if Michael J. Devlin, 41, of Kirkwood Mo., could have ties to the 2003 murder of 7-year-old Dalton Mesarchik.

"We will consider any and all leads," McCarty said. "We will look at a time line to see if he has any ties to the Streator area in 2003."

Devlin is accused of kidnapping a 13-year-old boy earlier this month. He also is accused of kidnapping and holding another boy for about four years in his Missouri apartment.

Missouri authorities also are looking to see if Devlin is connected to the disappearance of other children over the last few years.

McCarty said Devlin's actions in the Missouri cases are different from those seen in the Mesarchik case. The boys in the Missouri case were detained but not killed.

Mesarchik, 7, was last seen alive on March 26, 2003, in the front yard of his Streator home. He was waiting for a church van to pick him up for a Bible study class when he disappeared.

The bus never came that night because the class was canceled.

The next day, a fisherman found Mesarchik's body in the Vermilion River near the Vermilion Boat Club near Streator.

An autopsy showed the boy was beaten to death with a 3-pound sledgehammer that could only be purchased at a Kmart.

Police have reviewed numerous leads in the case over the years, but have yet to find a suspect. Police have said they have evidence that points to a person or specific type of person who may have committed the crime.

A $50,000 reward remains in the case.

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How to help

Contact police if you have any information about the murder of Dalton Mesarchik. Call:

- Livingston County Tip Line, (877) 844-4411

- Illinois State Police Zone 5 Investigations, (815) 844-1500, ext. 2321

- Streator Crime Stoppers, (815) 672-9000