Craig Amacker, 37, was found dead inside a building in the 6600 block of South Laflin Street on Chicago's South Side on the evening of Sunday, December 30, 2018. He lived on the block. The Sun-Times described the area as Englewood; the tracker places it in the West Englewood community area. The Chicago Police Department investigated, and Area South detectives were assigned to the case.
Officers found Amacker dead about 8:10 p.m., according to Chicago police and the Cook County medical examiner's office. An autopsy the next day found he died of multiple injuries he suffered in an assault, and the medical examiner ruled his death a homicide. The reports do not say what he was struck with, how long he had been dead when he was found, who called police or whether anyone else was in the building.
No one was in custody as of the following evening, police said.
No description of a suspect, vehicle or motive was released, no arrest was announced, and no reward tied to his case could be found. The same short report was carried by Fox 32 Chicago, but no follow-up story about the investigation appears to have been published.
Little about Craig Amacker's life has entered the public record. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this account. His surname is unusual, yet searches for it are dominated by other men of the same name, including a fishing guide in Wisconsin, which may help explain why his story has been so hard to follow. He was killed in the last days of 2018, in the quiet week between Christmas and New Year's, when relatives and friends may have been expecting to see him.
Laflin Street runs north and south a block east of Ashland Avenue, a major commercial street. West Englewood is a South Side community area of frame houses, brick two-flats and many vacant lots, where long-time residents often know their neighbors well. A neighbor who saw someone enter or leave the building on South Laflin that Sunday, or who heard a fight there, may be able to fill in what the official reports leave out.
Chicago recorded about 580 homicides in 2018 and about 500 in 2019. Chicago police reported clearing roughly half of the city's homicides in 2019 and the years that followed, though those figures count cases closed without charges. Stabbings and beatings drew far less attention than the shootings that dominated the city's headlines, and many of them were reported in a few lines and never mentioned again.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Craig Amacker could be found in news archives or public records. More than 7 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew Craig Amacker, who saw him in the days after Christmas 2018, or who was in or near the building on South Laflin Street that Sunday may be able to help. Even a small detail, such as a name overheard, a car seen leaving the area or a conversation remembered, can help detectives move a case forward. Anyone with information can call the Chicago Police Department's anonymous tip line at (833) 408-0069 or submit a tip online at CPDTIP.com, or contact Cook County Crime Stoppers at (800) 535-STOP (7867).
