The primary public voice for the Cross family since the case resurfaced publicly in the mid-2010s. Has given repeated on-record statements to WWMT and Fox 17 over more than a decade, including public calls for Prosecutor Jeff Getting to authorize charges.

Has stated publicly that she believes people in Vicksburg have long known who was responsible, though she has acknowledged this is community belief, not proof.

A volunteer group formed by community members and family friends to press for resolution of the case. Has organized public walks in Vicksburg in 2019, 2020, and 2026, and maintains public-facing pages documenting the case.

In 2026, the group stated it submitted sixteen years of compiled findings to the FBI. Clutch Justice has not independently reviewed that submission.

Identified by Kalamazoo County investigators as the prime person of interest as early as 2015, while in custody on an unrelated matter. Released with no charge filed related to the Cross case. Named in the October 2017 sheriff’s referral for open murder or conspiracy to commit murder.

Separately and independently documented public court history, unrelated to the Cross case: charged with drunk and disorderly conduct and trespassing in an unrelated 2016 matter; faced aggravated stalking, trespassing, and domestic assault charges reported in 2017; charged with home invasion and domestic violence in a separate 2016 matter, after which then-Undersheriff Paul Matyas told reporters “his life and his behavior has spiraled downhill.” Later pleaded no contest to stalking and trespassing charges, then withdrew that plea and proceeded toward trial on those unrelated charges.

Named alongside his son in the October 2017 sheriff’s referral for open murder or conspiracy to commit murder charges.

No separately documented public court history beyond the referral was found in the reviewed press record.

Reported to have been at the party the night Cross died. Matyas has described her as having what he called “very clear firsthand knowledge of what went on that particular time.” Named in the October 2017 referral. Press reporting has noted she has declined to speak with reporters when approached.

No separately documented public court history beyond the referral was found in the reviewed press record. A podcast source refers to additional surnames (“Macik,” “Hull”) potentially associated with her; Clutch Justice has not independently verified this and is not repeating it as fact.

Reported to have been present at the party the night Cross died. Named in the October 2017 sheriff’s referral.

No separately documented public court history beyond the referral was found in the reviewed press record.

Named in the October 2017 sheriff’s referral. Press reporting places him within the same social group as Spaulding, Cook, and Thomas at the time of Cross’s death.

No separately documented public court history beyond the referral was found in the reviewed press record.

Has held the office continuously since 2008, spanning the department’s 2015 identification of Spaulding, the 2017 referral, the 2020 AG review outcome, and the present day. Has stated publicly that his department remains committed to the case and will return findings to the Attorney General if new information develops.

Reviewed the Cross case file after joining the department. Has been the most vocal law enforcement figure publicly disputing the prosecutorial rationale for declining to charge, stating investigators obtained admissions from people connected to the case.

Gave on-record forensic testimony describing Cross’s injuries, including rope burns, deep abrasions, leg fractures, and a laceration to his lower back, consistent with the department’s theory that he was tied to a vehicle and dragged. Distinct from Undersheriff Paul Matyas; see name collision note above.

Was the department’s senior official at the time of Erik Cross’s death in June 1983. Joined KCSO as Undersheriff in 1981 immediately after serving as Chief of the Special Prosecutions Unit in the Kalamazoo County Prosecutor’s Office (1980-1981), following six years as an assistant prosecuting attorney. Elected Sheriff in 1984 and served five terms. This is a fact about institutional structure, not an allegation: the department’s top official in 1983 had come directly from the prosecutor’s office, illustrating how closely the two offices were staffed at the time. No document connects Edmonds to any specific decision in the Cross investigation.

Held the office of Kalamazoo County Prosecutor in 1983. No document reviewed by Clutch Justice shows Gregart’s office made a specific charging decision on the Cross case; the original 1983 investigation did not reach a public charging decision under his tenure.

Gregart is documented, independent of the Cross case, arguing for a harsher sentence in the contemporaneous 1983-84 prosecution of Roger Gauntlett, an Upjohn heir convicted of sexually assaulting his stepdaughter. A Kalamazoo circuit judge initially proposed probation in exchange for a substantial financial contribution to a treatment center rather than prison; Gregart’s office pushed back, and the case saw two judicial disqualifications before a third judge imposed a sentence the Michigan Court of Appeals later voided as an abuse of discretion. This does not involve the Cross case in any way. It is included as documented context for the kind of criminal-justice controversy Kalamazoo County was contending with in the same year Erik Cross died, and it complicates any narrative that the prosecutor’s office of that era uniformly protected the well-connected.

Declined to authorize any of the five charges requested in the October 2017 referral. Has stated the office requires sufficient, legally admissible evidence to convict beyond a reasonable doubt, and that two prior county prosecutors and the Michigan Attorney General’s office separately reached the same conclusion.

Confirmed to WWMT in October 2017 that the prosecutor’s office had received and was reviewing the sheriff’s office’s referral.

Her office conducted a preliminary review beginning in February 2019 and announced in January 2020 that no charges would be filed, citing insufficient evidence. The case was returned to the Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office.

Delivered the AG office’s January 2020 declination statement, telling reporters the decision was heartbreaking for the family but that there was simply not enough evidence to criminally charge any of the remaining people of interest.