Shelby County – Nichole D. Kroncke Passed Away?

Shelby Co. (ECWd) –

For the record, it is our understanding Nichole D. Kroncke is alive and well.

However, according to a letter from American Express to the Estate of Nichole D. Kroncke, she passed away.

“We are very sorry to hear about the death of Nichole D Kroncke and would like to take this opportunity to express our sympathy.”

Why would they think she passed away?

The letter is focused on informing the estate of Kroncke that the American Express Business Card account ending in 891004 has been canceled.  We have not found any Estate filed with the court so it is rather odd that American Express would be under the impression she passed away.

We know that the American Express card Kroncke utilized while in office was account number 378000739891004, which contains the same last 6 numbers referenced in the American Express letter to the estate. We know the full account number because the current State’s Attorney failed to redact the account number in a recent Freedom of Information Act request. We also know the American Express letter is directly tied to the card utilized by Kroncke when she was a State’s Attorney because of our communication with the Illinois State Police.

The account was still open after Kroncke left office and we now know the account was closed after her departure.  That leads to the questions we have been unable to get answered:

• Who had the account closed?
• Based on what authority?
• Who notified American Express that she passed away and what proof was provided?
• Why did an account that was a public office account get closed based on what appears to be a fraudulent representation of the death of the person who opened the account?

There are a lot more questions regarding matters around this credit card and we will continue to publish some very troubling records over the next several weeks and months, and rest assured some will have a lot of crow to eat.