Sema'j Crosby Slaying 3 Years Later: More FBI Help Underway

JOLIET, IL — Monday marks three years since the Will County Sheriff's Department made the gruesome discovery of 1-year-old Sema'j Crosby's body underneath a couch inside her family's rental property at 309 Louis Road in Joliet Township.

Several days after her death, the house where Semaj's body was found burned down in a suspected arson. That house was owned and managed by former Minooka mayor Jason Briscoe, several news outlets reported in 2017.

Several months passed before Will County Coroner Patrick O'Neil ruled the Joliet toddler's death a homicide. Sema'j most likely died of asphyxiation, O'Neil said.

Nobody has been arrested in connection with Sema'j's slaying.

The Will County Sheriff's Chief Deputy of Investigations Dan Jungles told Joliet Patch that the homicide investigation remains active. His agency has enlisted help from the FBI on two recent fronts.

In recent months, the Will County Sheriff's Office sent its entire Sema'j Crosby case file to the FBI's behavioral analysis unit. Will County is also working with an FBI forensic pathologist who specializes in child deaths.

"This is not a case of a bogeyman or a stranger," Jungles told Patch on Saturday.

He said the person responsible for Sema'j's death is someone who is either a family member or a family friend who "should have been taking care of her or loving her."

Jungles said his agency has worked with the FBI since the early stages of the 2017 death investigation.

"The FBI has been involved since day one," he said.

Some members of the FBI who are now working with Will County are "the same lead case agents in the AJ Freund case," Jungles said.

In April 2019, 5-year-old AJ Freund died inside his home in Crystal Lake. Almost a week later, police brought Andrew Freund Sr. in for questioning. He finally confessed, officials said, and told police where he buried his son's body, which was then found wrapped in plastic and recovered from a shallow grave near Woodstock, Illinois.

Jungles said there is no time frame on how soon the FBI's involvement will lead to a major breakthrough in Will County's highest-profile unsolved death in recent years.

"It's still an open and active investigation," Jungles said Saturday. "However, our leads have slowed down on the case."

Jungles emphasized that Crime Stoppers of Will County offers cash rewards of up to $5,000 for tips that lead to an arrest.

Unfortunately, he said, there have been numerous times over the past three years where people have posted "misinformation" about the little girl's death on social media sites.

That "misinformation" has been counterproductive to the Will County Sheriff's investigators who are trying to solve the crime, Jungles said.

"We need to base our case on facts, not myths," Jungles told Patch. "We know there are people out there that can help us solve this case, and we just ask for them to come forward with information.

"Time is our friend at this particular time. Crime Stoppers has cash rewards for information into the death of an innocent child. These are the kinds of cases that weigh heavily on the detectives that work these cases, as well as the public," Jungles added.

Anyone with information can call the Will County Sheriff's investigations unit at 815-727-8574. Otherwise, Crime Stoppers of Will County can be reached anonymously at 800-323-6734.

Related:

Sema'j Crosby's Father Sues Mother, Child Aid Organization

Grandmother Says Sema'j's Mother Sherri Gordon Killed Her

Sema'j Crosby 911 Tapes Released By Will County