On the evening of Sunday, April 24, 10 year old Iliana or Lily Peters spent time at her aunt’s house in Chippewa Falls, WI. Chippewa Falls is located 90 miles east of Minneapolis-Saint Paul and has a population of approximately 14,000 people. It is considered a safe community & major crime was a rare occurrence. Lily was a fourth grader at Parkview Elementary School. She was supposed to be headed home from the 400 block of North Grove Street to the 50 block of E. Birch Street, only about a five minute walk from where her aunt lives. Lily lived with her dad, Alexander Peters (her parents split up in 2018) & he reported her missing at 9pm that night. Lily was last seen by her family that evening. Police officers & family members checked the area and contacted friends and family but found no sign of Lily.
A couple of hours later, around 11pm, Alex found Lily’s bike near a wooded area east of Leinie Lodge at 124 Elm St (Leinenkugel’s brewery). The bike was near the parking lot of the brewery & off of a normally populated walking trail, the Duncan Creek Trail only a few blocks from Lily’s house.
K9 teams from the Chippewa County Sheriff’s department and the Lake Hallie PD were called to search the area that night. A drone was used to search the wooded area while law enforcement and fire/EMS search teams searched the area and went door to door. CFPD investigators continued to follow-up with Lily’s family & friends. It was determined by the Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation that the incident did not meet the criteria for an Amber Alert. At the time of Lily’s disappearance, she was wearing a purple ¼ zip, long sleeved shirt with black stretch pants and gray shoes. School superintendent Jeff Holmes indicated that the school used all of its communication channels to get the word out about Lily’s disappearance in order to help find her.
The next morning at 8:54 a.m., on Monday, April 25th, a body was found in the wooded area near the walking trail of the Duncan Creek Trail, not far from where Lily’s bike was located. Tragically it was the body of Lily Peters & she was found naked from the waist down. The person who found the body knew Lily & was actively searching for her. Lily’s body was sent for forensic autopsy to Minneapolis St Paul, an hour and a half west of CF. It was said that it’s rare but not unusual to outsource an autopsy in a high-profile case to a better equipped jurisdiction. The autopsy was done on the same day by pathologist Dr Mills. Dr Mills found bite marks on Lily’s left buttocks as well as anal tearing & biological evidence consistent with sexual assault. The results of the preliminary autopsy indicated Lily died from blunt force trauma on the left side of her face as well as strangulation. The final autopsy results could take 4-6 weeks as medical examiners wait for toxicology reports.
Greg Hoffman, Chippewa Falls mayor, said that when the public learned of Lily’s death, the town began to pull together with compassion & support. Residents of CF determined that the Friday after Lily was found was determined “Justice for Lily” day & the town was decked out in purple and business owners, teachers & students wore purple to honor her memory. On the night when Lily’s body was discovered, a vigil was held at Valley Vineyard Church for friends & relatives to pray together. Local businesses have donated their time and supplies in Lily’s memory; an ACE Hardware in CF distributed free purple lights for neighbors to hang on their porches. More than 400 bulbs were passed out in less than 20 minutes. When they got a shipment for 600 more bulbs, there was a line out the door & residents say the homes around town are lit with purple at night in Lily’s memory. Purple ribbons were tied around light poles & mailboxes The town is trying to change the street name where Lily lived to Lily Street.
Community members started a petition to state senator Kathy Bernier since an Amber alert was never sent after Lily was reported missing. They want an alert with less regulations around it so something can be done more quickly when a child goes missing. As of April 27, there were 55,000 signatures to create a Lily alert
When Lily’s body was discovered, police announced an increased presence at schools as they searched for her killer. Community members were terrified that a child predator was on the loose. Parents were urged to not let their kids be out and about alone. The public urged authorities to investigate child sex offenders living in Chippewa Falls.
Little did the public know that not only was the real killer not on the sex offender list, but they were also a juenile & related to Lily. On Tuesday, April 26th CFP Chief Matthew Kelm announced that the suspect was known to Lily and there was no presumed danger to the community.
On April 25th on the TrueCrime subreddit, a user commented that on the night of April 24th when Lily went missing, they were in the park playing Pokemon Go and they said, “I think that I saw that girl in a pink/purple hoodie on her bike with another kid on my way out. I have a suspicion it could be another kid that did it.” Users flooded the post with comments urging this person to contact authorities with what they saw. The user who is an area highschool student elaborated on what they saw in the park that night. “My coworkers got me hooked on Pokemon Go again so I was walking through the park playing that.” While driving by the entrance of the skate park area near Leinenkugels they saw “2 kids riding their bikes either past that entrance or into the park.”
Concerned Reddit users took it upon themselves to contact CFPD calling into the tip line & emailing screenshots to investigators. Less than 20 minutes later CFPD called the Reddit user to let them know they would be following up. Police received more than 200 tips in the case which Chief Kelm said helped police find the suspect.
Police served a search warrant for Lily’s aunt’s home; Chief Kelm wouldn’t comment on whether the suspect was arrested at the same address. Shortly before a scheduled press conference on April 26 at 6:30pm CDT Lily’s aunt’s house was surrounded by police cars & crime scene tape. Officers were seen carrying out boxes of evidence & the street was blocked off to prevent the media from getting too close to what was considered a crime scene. During the press conference, the police announced that they made an arrest in the case; a juvenile who was known to Lily. The press used male pronouns during the conference.
On April 26, Lily’s 14 year old cousin who was in 8th grade was interviewed & admitted that the day she went missing, he helped her get her bike at her aunt’s house. He told detectives that he rode a hoverboard on the trail while Lily rode her bike. He said he asked Lily to go exploring off the trail; he carried his hoverboard & Lily carried her bike. Once they were off the trail & heading up a hill, he said he punched Lily in the stomach & knocked her to the ground. He then struck her in the head three times with a large stick, straddled her as she lay on her back & strangled Lily until he believed she was dead. He admitted that he tried to sexually assault Lily after she died which was consistent with what the autopsy showed. CPB said he recalled biting Lily but couldn’t remember where on her body he had done it.
At this point, CPB got scared, fled the scene & went home, showered & put his clothes in the laundry. When he realized that Lily was reported missing, CPB felt he should try to hide Lily’s body better so he went back to the woods & dragged her a few feet & covered her with leaves. He told investigators that at the time he went to Lily’s aunt’s house to help her with his bike, it was his full intention to rape & kill her that day.
CPB is the son of a convicted pedophile; 37 year old Adam B was sent to prison for three years in May 2018 after being found with 10 pornographic pictures of prepubescent girls on his phone. His own face had been superimposed on some of the photos. He was also found with drug paraphernalia, including four crack pipes in his home. He was released in April 2021 though CPB’s grandmother said he was shattered after his father was sent to prison. She described CPB as “unhappy” since his father was gone. During Adam’s time in prison, he had no contact with CPB though he emailed his son daily & sent a crochet blanket he made in prison. There was also an incident where Adam drove his car at CPB’s mother, leaving her injured after she rolled off the hood of the car to the ground. CPB is related to Lily because his mother is Alex’s (Lily’s dad’s) sister who has had multiple convictions for drug offenses & was arrested in 2005 for domestic battery with her then husband.
CPB has been charged as an adult. Judge Benjamin Lane agreed to prosecutor’s requests to set bond at $1 million & ordered the defendant to avoid contact with minors except his siblings as long as that contact was supervised. CPB’s attorneys requested a $100,000 bond arguing that he is not a flight risk as he is too young to drive though this was denied.
CPB is being held at a juvenile detention facility in Wisconsin and has appeared in court remotely. He received charges for first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree sexual assault and first-degree sexual assault with a child under 13 resulting in great bodily harm. He could face life in prison if convicted of the top charge.
In Wisconsin, homicide defendants above age 10 can be tried in adult court but the DA said it was premature if this would be the case in this situation. He is expected to appear in court on June 24.
Lily’s parents Alexander Peters & Jennifer Eyerly are clearly devastated about their daughter’s death. They are yet to speak publicly about Lily’s murder/passing.
References:
- Trip Advisor: Leinie Lodge
- WEAU 13 News: Police: Missing Chippewa Falls girl found dead; homicide investigation underway
- Today.com: Wisconsin town honors memory of 10-year-old Lily Peters after her killing
- Law & Crime: ‘It was Already His Intention to Rape and Kill’: Lily Peters’ Killer Beat Her with ‘Large Stick’ and Strangled Her to Death, Court Docs Say
- Oxygen True Crime: Criminal Complaint Reveals New Details In Murder of 10-Year-Old Lily Peters
- Medium.com: A Reddit Thread, Followed by a Body: The Murder of Lily Peters
- Fox News: Lily Peters killing: Judge sets $1M bond for 14 year old suspect charged as an adult in girl’s shocking death
- Daily Mail: Murdered Wisconsin Lily Peters, 10, was lured into woods by her cousin, 14, before he ‘strangled her to the point of death and then sexually assaulted her’ – before returning to the scene ‘to hide her body better’ by covering her in leaves
- Today.com: Wisconsin town honors memory of 10-year-old Lily Peters after her killing
