Three Held in Abduction of Media Family Member : Illinois Kidnap Victim Buried Alive, Dies

A kidnaped member of a prominent media family died after he was buried alive in a homemade box with a portable light and a jug of water while his abductors sought a $1-million ransom, authorities said Saturday.

Kankakee Police Chief Timothy O. Nugent said three suspects had been arrested and authorities were looking for more. He said the suspects will be charged with aggravated kidnaping and murder in the death of Stephen B. Small, 39, who was abducted early Wednesday.

Small’s body was found Friday night in a box buried about three feet deep in sand in a wooded area southeast of Kankakee.

Kankakee County Coroner James Orrison said Small was “definitely buried alive,” and had been dead for 10 to 20 hours when his body was found. Police said they believed Small was buried shortly after he was abducted.

The box was equipped with a ventilation system, but the cause of death was not known. An autopsy was performed Saturday and laboratory results were pending.

“Apparently, the air supply was not sufficient,” Orrison said. “It looks to me like he probably suffocated or had a heart attack because of the situation he was in.”

Small also was buried with a plastic milk jug filled with water and provided with an electric light powered by two car batteries, the coroner said.

Nugent identified the suspects as Daniel J. Edwards, 30; Nancy Rish, 26, both of nearby Bourbonnais, and Kent Allain, 33, of Kankakee, which is about 60 miles south of Chicago. The three were being held in Kankakee County Jail and are expected to be formally charged Tuesday.

At least two other people are still being sought in the kidnaping, sources said.

Van Noticed at Home

Edwards and Rish were reportedly arrested after one of Small’s neighbors, a Kankakee County sheriff’s deputy, noticed a van with the front bumper missing in front of Small’s home the night before the kidnaping.

Small apparently was lured early Wednesday to a building he was renovating about three blocks from his home by a caller who claimed to be a policeman and said the building had been broken into, Nugent said. Small had said he planned to open an antiques shop in the building, which was designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

Small’s wife, Nancy, was called at about 3:30 a.m. and told her husband was being held for a $1-million ransom, Nugent said. The caller said Small would find her husband “in a box” if the ransom was not paid, a police source said.

The family received five calls, the last at about 11:50 p.m. Wednesday, sources said.

Deputy Police Chief Robert Pepin said family members were willing to comply with the abductors’ demands, but they could not understand the tape-recorded message they received over the telephone about the drop-off point for the ransom.

Nugent said a police air patrol on Friday night found Nancy Small’s 1987 Mercedes-Benz, which Stephen Small had been driving. The body was located at about 10 p.m. with the help of one or more of the suspects, an official said.

The Small family has a long history in media ownership and in Illinois politics.

Small’s father, the late Burrell L. Small, was president and chairman of the Mid America Media Group, a broadcasting company that owned 11 radio stations and two cable television stations, and was a former publisher of the Kankakee Daily Journal. Mid America was sold in early 1986.

The family-owned group of seven daily newspapers and three weeklies in Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Iowa and California was consolidated into the Small Newspaper Group Inc. in 1983 under the leadership of Stephen’s cousin, Len R. (Rob) Small. The group now owns eight daily newspapers and five weeklies.

Small’s great-grandfather was Len Small, governor of Illinois from 1921 to 1929.