MAKANDA, Ill. (AP) — A fire has destroyed the family home of a southern Illinois police officer who died in August after he was allegedly struck on a Mississippi River bridge by a motorist fleeing police.
Six relatives of Brian Pierce Jr., including his mother, father, and sister, escaped unharmed when the Dec. 23 fire gutted the family’s home in Makanda, a village in Jackson County.
Pierce’s mother, Tammy Pierce, tells KMOV-TV the fire also destroyed all of her late son’s belongings. The 24-year-old Brooklyn police officer died on August 4 when authorities say a suspect fleeing police struck Pierce as he was placing spike strips on a bridge that links Illinois and Missouri.
