THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

Kevin Clewer was found murdered in his apartment on the 3400 block of North Elaine Street on March 24, 2004. The case has remained unsolved, but members of Kevin's family over the years have made numerous public appeals for information about finding the killer and bringing him to justice.

Police have been aware of the alleged killer's identity since about 2020, but the state's attorney's office needs more information before it can issue an arrest warrant, according to Ron Clewer, Kevin's brother.

At an online press briefing June 24, Ron discussed what's generally known about the 2004 incident: Kevin had gone for an evening out at a bar with a friend, and ended up bringing home a man, then in his early twenties, whom the police refer to euphemistically as Fernando. Fernando allegedly attempted to rob Kevin while Kevin slept. Kevin woke up and was still intoxicated; a fight broke out.

Police and Clewer's family think Fernando may have permanently fled to Puerto Rico, although he has been back to Chicago several times. Prior to the 2004 incident, Fernando had faced charges of prostitution, burglary and robbery, Ron said. Fernando had not been involved with any criminal activity since 2004, Ron said.

Fernando would now be in his early forties. Ron said he hoped that anyone with additional information will come forward. He has been "strategic" in publicizing his brother's case in the last few years, searching for information in forums such as Facebook, Reddit and Datalounge. He praised recent efforts of Chicago Police Department (CPD), whom he said have to navigate between recent cases and long-standing ones such as Kevin's murder. The police in May released a video highlighting the case. Kevin's murder was also the subject of an Unsolved Mysteries podcast.

Ron said he knows his efforts won't solve the case completely, but he wants "to make sure that I'm still connecting things in Kevin's case."

The CPD video is at youtu.be/w2Xm4BZAfMY. The Unsolved Mysteries podcast (titled Murder in Boystown) is at unsolved.com/podcast/ . Anyone with information on the incident should call 833-408-0069 or send a tip to CDPTip.com .