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| 1987 |
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Born in Quincy, Illinois on June 08, 1987. He weighed 8 lbs. 8 oz. and was 20 inches long. He joined a brother, Brian and a sister, Shannon.
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| 1998 |
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In August, Evan moved to Canton, MO with Mom, Brian and Shannon. He started the 6th grade. |
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| February 2003 |
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Evan transferred back to Quincy Senior High School as a sophomore (using his Dad's address). He stayed in Canton with Mom half the time and Quincy with his Dad half the time. |
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| October 4, 2004 |
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Evan became an uncle on 10/4/04. He dearly loved his niece Hopie. |
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| Spring 2005 |
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Evan became the proud owner of 1999 Dodge Neon Sport. He spent many hours working on it and customizing the interior of it.
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| June 2005 |
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| July 23. 2005 |
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Transmission went out of my car. Evan had to start sharing his car with Mom. (This is the reason why Evan and Kelley were in Kelley's car and not Evan's and the reason why Kelley was driving.) |
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| July 27 & 28, 2005 |
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On July 27, Evan was a passenger in a car driven by his friend Kelley. The car went out of control and hit a guardrail. The car went over the guardrail and landed upside down in a shallow creek bed. The car was found the next day. |
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| July 27 & 28, 2005 - To Evan |
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To my angel Evan
July 27, 2005
7:15-7:30 AM
I left for work. Before I walked out the door, I kissed you on the top of your head as you were sleeping and told that I love you.
Around 10:00 AM
I called to ask you to bring me my phone bill when you met me at lunch time. You did not answer the cell phone, so I called the house phone. You answered and I could tell that I had woken you up. I made you get up and I directed you to exactly where the phone bill was.
11:40 AM
The last call to my cell phone was at this time (according to the bill which I got later). I now know that it was Denys. You were no cell land so you said that you would call her back when you got reception. She never received a call and when she tried calling you back, the call went straight to voice mail.
11:41-11:45 AM
This is the time when the accident had to have happened. This is the time that you had to have died.
1:00 PM
I went on my lunch break. You were suppose to be there to pick me up. You were not there.
1:45 PM
I got back from my lunch break. You were still not there. You had not called to let me know why you were not able to be there. I called the cell phone and it went straight to voice mail.
1:45-4:30 PM
I tried calling the cell phone several times. It went straight to voice mail each time.
4:30 PM
I got off work. You were still not there. I had to go straight home because I had to watch Hopie between the time April went to work and Brian got back to Canton from work.
Around 5:00 PM
I drove over the Durgens Creek bridge. I now know that this is where your body was. I had no clue as I drove over the bridge that this was where my life changed forever.
Around 5:15-6:00 PM
Got home and waited for April and Hopie. When they got there, we made some phone calls on April's cell phone trying to locate you with no luck. She called Brian and told him to come straight to my house with no stops. When Brian got there, we made phone calls on his cell phone trying to locate you with no luck.
6:00-9:00 PM
Brian and I continued to make phone calls trying to find you with no luck. We got in the car and started driving. We could not find you or Kelley anywhere in Canton. We started out for Quincy. We crossed the Durgens Creek bridge. Right after the bridge I saw tire marks so I put the brakes on and turned on the road right there. We took that road as far as Route 6 but saw nothing. We then headed for West Quincy. After getting to West Quincy, we turned around and headed back to Canton. After crossing the Durgens Creek bridge, I was hysterical and Brian made me pull over so he could drive. (That evening could I somehow sense in my subconscious that you were there at Durgens Creek?) Before we got back to Canton, I called 911 and asked them to have an officer meet me at Canton Police Department so I could file a missing persons report.
9:00-10:15 PM
I filed a missing persons report at the Canton Police Department.
10:30 PM
I knew that I would not be able to sleep but laid down anyway. I got up periodically and looked outside hoping that you would come home but there was no sign of you.
July 28,2005
7:15-7:30 AM
I left for work. I knew that I did not have a choice because I already had a verbal warning for attendance.
7:30-7:40 AM
I crossed Durgens Creek bridge again having no clue that you were there.
Around 9:45-10:00 AM
Kelley's Mom called me at work to see if I had seen or heard from either one of you. While she was talking to me, John (Kelley's dad) walked in the house. (He had taken the morning off and went looking for you guys again. He is the one that found you.) He told Lisa and she told me. That is how I found out that my you were dead and my life changed forever.
10:00-11:30 AM (???)
One of the managers at work called Aunt Kathy to come get me. When we left work, we went to the airport to tell your Dad. (Kelley's mom had called Brian at work, Brian called Shannon and Shannon called your dad.) He already knew and Michael (co-worker) was trying to keep him there and prevent him from driving.
11:30 AM - 1:30 PM (????)
We all went back to your dad's house. Brian was already there and so was Denys. People started making phone calls for us. Aunt Vicky was in Canton trying to find someone who could officially tell us that you had been killed in an accident.
Around 1:30-1:45 PM
A state patrolman called and asked if they could release your name to the news. Aunt Kathy informed him that we had not been officially notified. He asked for me and when I got on the phone, he verified that you had been killed in a car accident. Aunt Kathy got back on the phone and let him know that we still had family members to notify.
1:45-5:00 PM
We finished notifying everyone. We gave the police permission to release your name. The coroner called and asked where we wanted you to be taken. Your Dad decided that he wanted you to be taken to Duker & Haugh Funeral Home. Someone from Duker & Haugh came and talked to us.
The rest of the evening
Lots of people came to your dad's house to see us. Several people brought food for all of us.
Around 10:00 pm
Shannon & Matt got here.
Evan, I can't believe that it has been 2 years today since I last talked to you and saw you alive. I can't believe that tomorrow will be 2 years since my world came crashing down. My heart is broken. |
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| Quincy Teens Killed |
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Article from Quincy Herald Whig (Friday July 29, 2005)
Quincy teens killed
by Nancy Terwelp
Funeral arrangements are being made later today for two 2005 graduates of Quincy (IL) High School who were killed in a one-car accident on U.S. 61, three miles south of LaGrange.
Kelley John Walker and his passenger, Evan Scott Laws, were pronounced dead at the scene by Lewis County Coroner Larry Arnold about 10:30 a.m. Thursday. The Duker and Haugh Funeral Home in Quincy is in charge of the arrangements for both.
Missouri State Highway Patrol reports the 1985 Buick was southbound when it went off the right side of the road, struck a guardrail, became airborne and struck a tree. The car came to rest on its top in Durgen's Creek. Where the car landed is not readily visible from the road.
Lewis County Sheriff David Parrish said that Laws' mother, Heidi Laws, of Canton, had reported to the Canton Police Department about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday that her son was missing. His father is Don Laws of Quincy.
The Walker boy's father, John Walker of Quincy, had been driving along U.S. 61 hunting for the vehicle when he spotted it in the creek bed, Parrish said today. Walker's mother is Lisa Walker of Quincy. Parrish said his department had not been notified until the wreckage was found Thursday.
Lewis County Sheriff Department was alerted about 9:30 a.m. Thursday that a vehicle was spotted in the creek near the Beilstein Camper sales.
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| Obituary |
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Evan Scott Laws
Evan Scott Laws, 18, of Canton, MO, and Quincy, IL died at 10:30 a.m. Thursday (July 28, 2005) on U.S. 61 near LaGrange, MO.
Evan was born June 8, 1987, in Quincy, a son of Donald and Heidi Redenius Laws.
He attended school in Canton as well as Quincy Public Schools and was a 2005 graduate of Quincy Senior High School. he attended Lighthouse Baptist Church in Quincy.
Evan enjoyed working on cars and had planned to go on to John Wood Community College to get a business degree and open his own car customization shop.
Evan is survived by his parents, Donald Laws of Quincy and Heidi Laws of Canton; a brother, Brian Laws and his wife, April of Canton; a sister Shannon Laws and her boyfriend Matt Stephens, both of Wausau, WI; a niece, Hopie Rae Laws; maternal grandparents, Virgil and Helen Redenius of LaPrairie; aunts and uncles, Kathy and Steve Lane of Hannibal, MO, Vicky and Don Cleeton of Ewing, MO, Dave and Linda Laws, Bob and Debbie Laws and Jerry Laws, all of Quincy, Jack and Rhonda Laws of Berkeley, CA, Bill and Joan Laws of Colorado Springs, CO, and Diann and John Aden of Golden; as well as many cousins and friends.
He was preceded in death by his paternal grandparents, Bill and Louise Laws, and his maternal great-grandmother, Minnie Redenius.
Services will be held at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday in the Duker and Haugh Funeral Home in Quincy. Burial will be in Memorial Garden Cemetary in Golden.
Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Monday in the funeral home.
In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to the educational fund of his niece, Hopie Rae Laws.
The Duker and Haugh Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.
(No other great grandparents names were listed as the rest died before he was born.)
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| Two Killed When Car Lands in Creek |
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Canton Press News Journal (August 4, 2005)
Two killed when car lands in creek
by Dan Steinbeck
Another tally has been added to the Canton R-V student connection traffic fatality list.
The seventh victim since March, 2000 is Evan S. Laws, 18, of Quincy, IL, but attended school at Canton R-V in the past.
Laws and another Quincy male, Kelley J. Walker, 18, were pronounced dead at the scene of an accident on U.S. 61, three miles south of LaGrange at 10:30 a.m. by Lewis County Coroner Larry Arnold.
The accident is believed to be the first fatality on that four-lane section of Lewis County's U.S. 61 since the road opened as four-lane since November, 1977.
According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the accident occurred around 12:30 p.m. July 27, some 22 hours before being discovered.
The Patrol said Walker's 1985 Buick was southbound and began to skid, ran off the right side of the road, struck a guardrail, went airborne, struck a tree, and came to rest on its top in a ravine.
The car was totaled.
Trooper Tony O'Brien said speed was a likely factor in the crash, but would not comment on other factors, until after a toxicology report. Arnold said that report usually takes two to three weeks.
O'Brien said the accident was not visible from the highway and weeds around the guardrail hid any damage to the guardrail. Law's family apparently filed a missing person report with Canton Police about 9 p.m. July 27.
Walker and Laws are believed to have left Canton about noon July 27, and the wreckage was apparently found by Walker's family.
For most of the time emergency crews worked the accident, at least one lane of the southbound 61 was open, except for about 15 minutes it was closed to lift the car from the creek bed.
A State Patrol major crash team was to help in the investigation.
Later in the day the accident was discovered, friends put balloons and flowers at the crash site.
The other six Canton R-V students who died in car accidents since March 2000 are:
* Kristin Hendrickson, March, 2000, U.S. 61 south of Route C (then two lanes, now four) two months before she would have graduated.
* Adam Martin, 19, and Darren Cale, 17, August, 2001, 10 miles north of Canton on U.S. 61 in Clark County (two lanes, in the plans to be four-laned). The accident happened three months after Martin graduated.
* Jeannette B. Schuetz, 18, June, 2002, less than two weeks after graduating, on U.S. 61 north of Hannibal in Marion County.
* Christopher D. McIntosh, 19, January, 2004, Route B between Canton and LaGrange, eight months after graduating.
* Francis James Farris, 18, September 2004, weeks into his senior year, in an accident in Schuyler County.
*** Toxicology report mentioned is required by law and is for statistical purposes only. Evan's came back negative. Since these reports are not released to the public, I do not know how Kelley's turned out.
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| Late 2005 |
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After the accident, I started wondering why the accident was not found by the authorities since I had filed a missing persons report. My family and I met first with the Canton Police Department, then the State Police and Lewis County Sheriff. Finally we met with the 911 board. The missing persons report that was filed with the Canton Police the night of the accident was forwarded in full to the 911 center but only a very small part of that was forwarded on to the state police. Since that time, the 911 board has re-written the way missing person reports are handled. |
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