Wanted woman captured in Iowa bound over for trial

Austin R. Johnson, 29, of Chicago; and Casey L. Myers, 32, of St. Charles are accused in a Twin Lakes overdose death.

Myers, 32, accused in two area overdose deaths

By Jason Arndt
Editor

Casey L. Myers, who was wanted in two states for drug overdose deaths, has been caught, the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office reported on its website.

Myers, of St. Charles, Ill., who was charged Sept. 8 in Kenosha County, had been arrested by federal authorities in Iowa, Twin Lakes Police Chief Adam Grosz confirmed.

Arrested with Myers was her purported husband, Austin R. Johnson, of Chicago, in relation to the June 12 overdose death of Austin Lange, 22, of Twin Lakes.

The two were bound over for trial at a Thursday preliminary hearing in Kenosha County Intake, where Court Commissioner David Berman found probable cause a felony was committed.

Both are also held on $100,000 cash bonds.

The Kenosha County District Attorney’s Office, which issued first-degree reckless homicide-deliver drug charges, issued warrants for their arrests on Sept. 8.

Myers, however, still faces charges in two Illinois counties, including McHenry, where she and another man allegedly supplied a lethal dose of heroin to Jennifer Farrell, who was found dead in the Village of Richmond on March 2.

Ongoing investigations
After the death of Farrell, Myers and another man, Joseph A. Williams, of Genoa City, were the subject of an investigation into the death of Farrell, according to a McHenry County criminal complaint.

While investigators continued to review Farrell’s death, Myers and Johnson, who are purportedly married, came into contact with Lange about three months later.

According to the Kenosha County complaint, the person who found Lange told investigators Myers and Johnson often sold heroin to Lange.

Lange, according to the complaint, died of acute mixed drug intoxication and “noted (that) fentanyl, acetylfentanyl, cocaine and MDMA” were in his system.

While investigators from both states were reviewing their overdose cases, Myers was arrested and charged in Effingham County, Ill., where she allegedly tried to pass a $100 counterfeit bill and was in possession of cocaine, according to a July 24 criminal complaint filed in the southern Illinois county about 90 miles east of St. Louis.

Meanwhile, on Aug. 5, according to a Kenosha County criminal complaint, investigators from Twin Lakes and Richmond arrived in Effingham where they interviewed Myers.

Myers allegedly told investigators she has 30 to 40 customers in Kenosha and Walworth counties, the complaint states.

After local investigators left, Myers was released on $500 bond on Aug. 7, Effingham County court records show.

Myers was indicted by an Effingham County grand jury Aug. 16.

As Myers remained at large, she was indicted by a McHenry County grand jury on Oct. 19 in relation to the death of Farrell.

For the full story, see the Twin Lakes Report print editions for both Dec. 1 and the upcoming Dec. 8 issue.


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