Accident date October 10
I was sent to Andy Long’s mysterious death by a personal friend of mine in law enforcement who said that it was unknown what happened to Andy and there had not been any answers. Everything in his case had been pretty much silenced. I made contact with Andy’s x-girlfriend Kelsey and his family, who met me and some of my board members out to Manchester, Scott County, Illinois. We did a Facebook live at the time in the summer of 2019 and I have spoken with several others in regard to Andy’s suspicious death. As always I continue to keep up with all these deaths and update my reports.
Andy Long was 28 years old on October 10, 2017. He left his mom’s in Decatur returning to his stomping grounds in Manchester, Illinois. He had just moved in to the Decatur with his mother two months prior to his death. His mother dropped him off on October 9th as he was to speak to his probation officer not knowing this would be the last time she would see her son alive.
Family members saw Andy walking from Roodhouse to Manchester, a three mile walk by himself carrying a red “Marlboro” duffel bag which family members know that duffel bag well.
Kelsey saw him earlier that day and said he had come over to her home and helped her pack up her mother’s things as she was moving out. Her mother wasn’t there, but Andy gave her a hand and being nice. Her sister was there helping them pack too. She doesn’t recall him having that Marlboro bag at the apartment. He never said where he was going or who he was with. He told her he would call her in the morning. She doesn’t know how he got there said he was walking up by himself. He left walking by himself.
Kelsey said she got a call at 2:00 A.M. from the Manchester Police Department as someone reported to them that someone was climbing in to her window. She looked throughout the house with the police on the phone and she couldn’t see anyone in the residence. After she disconnected that call she saw Andy in the house. She had his number blocked prior to this so she didn’t know if he had called her throughout the day or prior to him coming in to her residence while she was sleeping.
She said it was Andy who came in to her home thru the window, but she said she told him he couldn’t stay because she had an order of protection against him. He walked in to the kids room and kissed them good night. He gave her hug, told her he loved her, that he would call her the next day and he left. She said she had an incident with her mother, as mothers and daughters always do, He was being the “night and shining armor” even when they had things going on and they weren’t getting along, they were still best friends. She said he was in a good mood and “energetic”, he came to check on her, She said she gave him some tea in a Styrofoam cup. Andy went out the back door.
I was notified that the window he climbed through had an air conditioning unit in it and that he had to pull it out before he climbed through it. Kelsey confirmed that the Andy did remove the air-conditioner to climb in to the window, and she had curtains he had to maneuver around as well.
The family stated that they received a call from law enforcement about 6:45 A.M. and notified that Andy was possibly in a car accident. Andy was found face down with a gash on his head and was unresponsive. He was initially taken to the Jacksonville Hospital then air lifted to Springfield Hospital Memorial.
About 6:00 - 7:00 A.M. Kelsey stated that she got another call from the Manchester Police Department to ask her if she had any relationship to Andy because he had been in an accident. She said there were no other details in regard to what happened or what injuries he sustained until they were at the hospital in Springfield when the surgeon came out and spoke to her, his sisters and his mother. Andy had flat lined several times during surgery and he was now in a coma. The family wanted to know what could have cause his injuries. The surgeon said that this would have had to have been from a “very elevated position”, there were no defensive wounds, and the cause was blunt force trauma.
On file there was an Emergency Order of Protection filed September 22, 2017 and dismissed on October 10, 2017. According to record, Kelsey was told she had to leave the hospital visiting Andy in the ICU because she had the order of protection against him. She made a call on the same day Andy was taken to the hospital and requested that the order of protection be dismissed, and it was.
The coroner’s report showed the manner of death was undetermined.
Andy’s clothes were still in evidence. The phone was not in Andy’s possession at the hospital. The phone was allegedly taken by a local police officer who was the first to response to the scene. It was reported that the local police officer kept the phone and ISP allegedly had to get a warrant in order to retrieve the phone from the local law enforcement agency. Illinois State Police reportedly have his phone as evidence now, though they have not made a statement in Andy’s case. I was notified that the phone had been allegedly wiped clean. None of this has been confirmed by law enforcement.
Andy had two children with Kelsey. Some report that Andy had a substance abuse issue while others say they both had substance abuse issues which came to a head when the Department of Children & Family Services intervened. She told me that when this situation initially arose she was tested for drugs and that the test came back positive. She doesn’t know how because she wasn’t using, but at that point she had to follow their rules in order to keep her children. Part of the rules was that if she wanted to keep her children in the home, she wasn’t to have a drug user in the residence. She told me that she had Andy move out and that they both still loved each other very much but they did what was best.
The duffel bag allegedly disappeared. Detectives asked about the bag at the hospital the day he was in surgery. The bag was allegedly given to law enforcement days later. Kelsey stated that on October 10th after seeing what happened to Andy she took her kids and stayed at her dad’s home. She didn’t know what happened to Andy but she knew it wasn’t an accident which made her too scared to go home.
A couple weeks later Kelsey and her mother went to the apartment to clean it, get rid of any food and get more clothes for them. This is when she noticed Andy’s laundry in the hamper and the Marlboro duffle bag stuck in the back behind the hamper. She said she thought that maybe he left it all behind to use this as an excuse to come back to her apartment to visit her at a later time. She said that when Andy came to her apartment that night she never saw the bag or the clothes. She noticed his jacket that was left outside of the apartment on a table. She doesn’t believe he had any keys or a wallet.
It was reported that Kelsey moved shortly after Andy’s death not far from where she lived at the time.
Andy never made it to his meeting with the probation officer.
After being in a coma for eight days, Kelsey stated that the group of surgeons working on Andy notified the family that he had little to no brain activity and that he would not recover from his injuries. Andy’s mother was given the option of taking him off life support. Andy had no signs of any brain activity. Once they took him off he lasted a very short while.
Kelsey said his eight year old son was there to say goodbye to his dad. He has since been to counseling, and she explained to him that someone did this to Andy.
She said the Illinois State Police have evidence and they want an air tight case to the “people that did this” to Andy. She pleaded to the public for information that people may think it didn’t matter, or didn’t think anything of it at the time (of Andy’s death).
Andy’s loved ones continue to pray for answers of what happened to this young man.
If you have any information on Andy’s murder please contact the Morgan, Scott & Cass Crime Stoppers at (217) 243-7300.
OBITUARY
DECATUR - Andrew Scott Long, 28, of Decatur, died Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2017, at Memorial Medical Center in Springfield.
He was born May 27, 1989, in Jerseyville, the son of Kenneth Long and Mary (Scoggins) Oakley. He is survived by his children, Andrew Long Jr. and Holly Long, both of Manchester; his mother, Mary (David) Oakley of Decatur; his companion, Kelsey Sprong of Manchester; four sisters, Chastity Scoggins of Decatur, Chantell Hazelwood of Roodhouse, Heather Long of Austin, Texas, Deidra Hicks of White Hall, a stepbrother, David Oakley of Blue Mound; a stepsister, Lindsay Heil of Decatur; and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his father and a nephew, Dylan Campbell.
Andrew attended North Greene High School. He enjoyed fishing and spending time with his children.
Funeral services will be held noon Tuesday at Airsman-Hires Funeral Home in White a Hall with burial to follow at Richwood Cemetery west of Carrollton. Visitation will be from 10 a.m. Tuesday until the time of services at the funeral home. Memorials are suggested to the family. Condolences may be left online at airsman-hires.com.
Published in Jacksonville Journal-Courier on Oct. 22, 2017
