Fugitive Felon Shot Dead After Hostage Situation; His Wife Remains Missing

A convicted Illinois felon is dead after a standoff Friday that included a hostage at a home in Missouri, but the man’s wife — reported missing on Thursday — has not be found.

Chadwick Kelly, 33, was released from prison in Illinois in July after serving less than half of a 23-year sentence for a home invasion, Muddy River News reported.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office in Missouri said that the Quincy Police Department in Illinois contacted them earlier on Friday asking for help finding Kelly, who was wanted on a warrant from the Illinois Department of Corrections and suspected to be in LaBelle. While deputies were looking for Kelly, dispatchers received a hangup 911 call from a home in that town.

The highway patrol brought a SWAT team and negotiators to the scene to try to persuade Kelly to surrender.

“During the negotiations, Kelly fired numerous rounds from inside the residence, toward officers,” the state agency said. “Kelly later ran from the residence armed with a gun and members of the Patrol fired their weapons.”

The Lewis County Coroner arrived on the scene and pronounced Kelly dead.

Officials did not provide an update on the condition of the hostage, but Muddy River News reported that she was not Britney Kelly, Chadwick Kelly’s 32-year-old wife, who was reported missing to the Quincy Police Department. She was last heard from on December 14 in St. Charles, Missouri, reportedly with her husband.

Britney Kelly is described as 5 feet 1 inch tall and about 135 pounds with blonde hair and blue eyes.

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[Featured image: Britney Kelly/Quincy Police Department and Chadwick Kelly/Illinois Department of Corrections]