Illinois Department of Conservation - Division of Law Enforcement, Illinois
End of Watch: Saturday, July 4, 1931
Age: 63
Tour of Duty: 20 years
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: July 4, 1931
Weapon Used: Officer's handgun
Suspect Info: Never apprehended
Inspector Charles Eldredge was shot and killed at the entrance to a nature preserve at Nippersink Creek in McHenry County.
It is believed that Inspector Eldredge came across poachers hunting on the land. He was shot in the chest with his own service weapon, which was also the revolver used to murder his brother, Deputy Game Warden Earle Eldredge, 24 years earlier. Inspector Eldredge had carried the revolver ever since in the hopes of finding those responsible for his brother's murder.
The suspects in both officers' murders were never apprehended.
Inspector Eldredge had served with the Illinois Department of Conservation for 20 years and had previously been a state representative.
The family's nature preserve later became the North Branch Conservation Area.