A gray Ford Escape became the focus of a multi-agency search after a possible homicide report in Jefferson County.
DU QUOIN, Ill. — A police stop on a rural road in Perry County led officers to the body of 42-year-old Amy J. Finney and later to a 75-year prison sentence for her husband, authorities said.
The stop on Sept. 1, 2025, was the public turning point in a case investigators later tied to a domestic dispute at a rural Mount Vernon home. John W. Finney, now 52, was convicted of first-degree murder in his wife’s death and sentenced to 75 years in prison. Authorities said he had been driving a gray 2007 Ford Escape before officers detained him.
The search began in Jefferson County after deputies received a report of a possible homicide at about 8 p.m. The caller gave authorities a possible crime location and a description of a suspect vehicle, according to reports based on sheriff’s office statements. The vehicle was a gray 2007 Ford Escape. Officers from nearby agencies began watching for it as the investigation opened. About an hour later, a Christopher police officer saw the Escape near Illinois Highway 14 and Illinois Highway 148. Instead of immediately ending the encounter alone, the officer followed the vehicle west on Highway 14 while additional law enforcement units moved into position.
The stop happened in the 9000 block of Birch Road in rural Du Quoin, outside the county where the possible homicide had first been reported. Deputies from the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office helped with the stop. Du Quoin police, the Perry County Sheriff’s Office and Illinois State Police also assisted as officers secured the vehicle and detained John Finney. The route from the state highway intersection to Birch Road became part of a wider crime scene map that included the stopped vehicle, the road where officers made contact and the Finneys’ residence north of Mount Vernon. Officials have not released the full route they believe Finney drove before the stop.
Officers then checked the vehicle. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said a preliminary protective sweep by officers at the stop found Amy Finney dead inside the Escape. Regional reports said court documents placed her body in the hatchback area. Police did not publicly describe the condition of the vehicle beyond identifying it as the Ford Escape sought by officers. The Perry County coroner responded to the stop location and took custody of Amy Finney’s body. The discovery changed the stop from a search for a possible suspect into an active homicide investigation with a confirmed victim.
While officers were working around the vehicle in Perry County, Jefferson County deputies were at the Finney residence in the 7500 block of North Illinois Highway 148. They found evidence that supported the home as the crime scene, the sheriff’s office said. Mt. Vernon police helped secure the residence. Crime scene technicians from the Illinois State Police later processed both the home and the vehicle stop location. Detectives from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office responded to both places, and the Jefferson County state’s attorney assisted as search warrants were obtained for the home and the Escape.
Investigators said the evidence pointed to a fatal shooting. “Preliminary evidence gathered strongly supports that Amy Finney died from a gunshot wound during a domestic dispute with John at their home,” the sheriff’s office said in an update after the arrest. Authorities did not publicly release the firearm evidence in detail, and they did not say in the early public summaries whether a gun was recovered. They also did not identify the person who reported the possible homicide. The public timeline described a report at about 8 p.m., a vehicle sighting at about 9 p.m. and the discovery of Amy Finney’s body soon after the traffic stop.
The case later broadened beyond the stop itself. Regional reports said investigators believed John Finney killed Amy Finney on Aug. 31, 2025, then drove for several hours with her body inside the Ford Escape on Sept. 1 before the stop. GPS data from John Finney’s cellphone showed hours of driving around the county, according to those reports. Authorities have not publicly detailed every stop or movement during that period. They have not said why Finney left the home, where he was headed or whether he contacted anyone during the hours before police stopped him.
John Finney was 51 at the time of the arrest and was taken to the Jefferson County Jail after being charged with first-degree murder. He was held while the case moved through the court system. By June 2026, he had been found guilty and sentenced to 75 years in prison. The sheriff’s office announced the sentence and said Finney was returned to jail after court. Authorities said he would be transferred to the Illinois Department of Corrections to serve the term. The sentence followed a conviction on the murder charge tied to Amy Finney’s death.
The case involved agencies across Jefferson, Franklin and Perry counties. The Christopher officer’s sighting of the Escape placed the suspect vehicle in motion between state highways, and the rural Du Quoin stop allowed officers to detain Finney without waiting for the vehicle to return to Jefferson County. The response also split the investigation into two places at once: officers securing a vehicle with a body inside and deputies holding the home where investigators said the shooting happened. That overlap shaped the early hours of the case and gave detectives two linked scenes to process for evidence.
After the stop, the sheriff’s office said Amy Finney’s relatives were notified by detectives. Public reports did not include family statements, details about funeral arrangements or a victim impact statement from sentencing. The available record instead centered on the official steps: a 911 report, a vehicle description, a stop, search warrants, forensic processing, a murder charge, a conviction and a prison term. The court outcome now leaves the investigative facts attached to a completed murder case rather than an unresolved allegation.
John Finney remained in custody after sentencing while awaiting transfer to state prison. The next formal step in the case is that transfer to the Illinois Department of Corrections, where the 75-year sentence will be served.
Author note: Last updated July 8, 2026.