WYOMING, Mich. (WOOD) — The search for justice continues for the family of a West Michigan teen who was shot and killed while riding his bike last fall in Wyoming.
Police are asking for information from the public in the killing of 18-year-old Kane Coronado.
Coronado spent Nov. 1 like many other days, riding his bike. He was an avid biker, part of the local group Big Rippers 616.
On that Tuesday afternoon, the White Cloud teen took Indian Mounds Drive SW, a popular route through the woods tucked between the Grand River and I-196.
“It’s a very frequented area people go for fishing, biking, walking,” Wyoming Police Department Lt. Rory Allen told News 8 on Wednesday afternoon.
Around 3 p.m. tragedy struck. Emergency responders found Kane with a gunshot wound to the neck.
They tried to save him, but he died there.
“An 18-year-old victim … it hits close to home,” Allen said. “A lot of our officers here have kids around that age.”
His grandmother, Tonya Ferguson, visited the scene after the killing, asking why someone would open fire on a teen biker.
“I had to,” Ferguson told News 8 at the time. “I needed to. I needed to let him know that I was still with him. Grandma’s still there. Somebody’s got to be a monster to shoot somebody and leave him laying and drive away.”
The case has stumped investigators. More than three months later, there are still no answers, and the trail is running cold.
One major hurdle is where it happened.
“Indian Mounds Drive is a fairly rural area,” Allen explained. “So there’s not as many people you’re going to have out there. There’s not as much traffic. There’s not camera systems that we use now. There’s no security cameras on businesses. There’s not doorbell cameras. It certainly makes it a lot more difficult to find those leads on these cases.”
Details from witnesses have led to some progress. Wyoming police announced Tuesday they are looking for a vehicle of interest: a gray or silver four-door Chevy Cavalier made between 2000 and 2005.
“Around the time of the killing, witnesses saw the car eastbound on Indian Mounds before potentially going west onto I-196,” Allen said. “We’d like to obviously find the vehicle, the owner, the occupant of the vehicle at the time and just find out the nature of them being out there was.”
Besides that, with few leads from the scene, investigators are turning to the public.
“We really appreciate it when people reach out to us,” Allen said. “Our detectives work extremely hard to follow up on every tip we get.”
Police say any information, even if people think it’s small, is essential and can even break the case open.
“Maybe it was just one person who saw that thing,” Allen said. “One person passing along even a seemingly insignificant piece of information can really help us solve the case or give our detectives the information to start building the case a little more.”
“Sometimes it’s just that little piece of a puzzle that’ll give us the information we need to move forward with the case and hopefully get some closure with this,” Allen added.
While police made it clear they don’t believe there is any active threat to the public in that area, Allen said it’s a reminder to be careful in those types of spots.
“Any area like that, bike paths, rural areas that aren’t real well lighted, if you’re going to be out there jogging, walking the dog, riding a bike, it’s always best to have somebody else with you,” Allen said. “Make sure you have a cell phone with you. If you see something that makes you feel uncomfortable or makes you feel unsafe, you can call 911 and get some help out to you.”
Police are not giving up in the pursuit of justice for Coronado.
“We still are actively investigating this case, but again we’re just asking for the public’s help in this to try to get this resolved and bring some justice to Kane Coronado,” Allen said.
If you have any information, contact the Wyoming Police Investigative Division at 616.530.7300 or Silent Observer at 616.774.2345, 1.866.774.2345 or silentobserver.org.
