Editor’s note: Faces of 2017 is a series of stories looking at those in the news in the Aurora area over the last 12 months.
The first Christmas without Brandon Page was a difficult one for his family in Aurora.
When Brandon Page’s body was found decomposed in an Aurora garage months after he went missing, his older brother Kevin Page couldn’t help blaming himself, at least a little, for introducing Brandon to the drug addiction that killed him. Both brothers had streaks of sobriety, taking turns nudging each other toward the right path, according to previous interviews with Kevin Page and their mother.
As he worked to overcome his addiction, Brandon encouraged others while he lived, leaving an inspiring legacy, his mom said.
Pamela Page-Daddezio said she’s proud of Kevin, along with others who have taken Brandon’s death seriously and tried harder, or tried for the first time, to stop using drugs.
“I love that he could be an example that life is too short and they still have a chance,” Page-Daddezio said.
She’s trying to focus on the positives, to look on the bright side and be thankful for the 19 years she had with her younger son. She’s learned not to beat herself up. But she still cries.
“I’m here with my husband’s family on Christmas Day and I just want my baby,” Page-Daddezio said.
“I still carry a smile,” she said. “I’m thankful I had a chance to reveal he wasn’t just some thug on the street, he was somebody’s child, he was loved, he had family that cared and he just got stuck in this addiction. It just makes you tired. I’m going through a different grieving now, like not being able to buy him a gift.”
Brandon usually put the last ornament on the Christmas tree. Like icing a cake, he liked to complete the tree, Page-Daddezio said. This year, she did it for him.
Since the Beacon-News last reported on Brandon Page, the Kane County Coroner’s Office got toxicology results. His official cause of death is heroin and fentanyl intoxication. The manner — such as accidental, suicidal or homicidal — is still undetermined, according to information provided Friday by Deputy Coroner Karen Engh.
“If they leave it undetermined, it gives the state the opportunity to reopen the case,” Page-Daddezio said. “… I think what hurts is the fact that nobody’s taken accountability. It’s just an ongoing case at this point. I’ve had closure as far as knowing that I won’t get to see him again but it just hurts.”
Brandon moved back in with Page-Daddezio in January 2017. He was sleeping when she left left for work the morning of May 3, and gone when she returned. She didn’t see him for months. In August, his body was found in the unattached garage of a “known drug house” on the 800 block of Second Avenue. He had been dead for several months when a cleaning crew hired by a prospective buyer discovered his remains, the Kane County Coroner’s Office said.
Police reports describe used syringes scattered throughout the single-family home, four bedrooms filled with trash and “an overdose victim that had been concealed by throwing the victim into a garage full of garbage.” Needles were found in both the garage and in the home, Kane County Coroner Rob Russell said.
In a previous interview with the Beacon-News, Russell described the garage that day as a “Dumpster,” with bags of waste piled 4 feet high.
More Top Picks Pursteam 10 In 1
“It’s sad to think somebody’s life was just thrown away like that,” Russell said.
The death investigation opened Aug. 18 was the 14th report that Aurora police took at the address in 2017. They had already recorded at least three drug law violations, according to public records obtained by The Beacon-News through a public records request.
Investigators couldn’t tell whether the body was male or female, but they quickly surmised it could be Brandon, as dental records eventually proved.
On Facebook, Pamela Page-Daddezio recently shared a photo of Brandon wearing a Santa hat.
“Merry Christmas to EVERYONE! Enjoy life, be at peace, thank you for all your love and support! God bless xo celebrating life…” she wrote. ” I love you my son Brandon Erik! You are and always be a blessing to us all.”
For Christmas, she gave Kevin a copy of the photo. Kevin has started going to Tuesday night Bible study at the church Brandon used to go to, Page-Daddezio said.
Page-Daddezio has continued to be involved with what she considers her church family, and has used tools from grieving programs she’s gone through in the past.
“It teaches you don’t be afraid to cry, try to release that because it’s like a healing process and we don’t have to try to be so strong,” she said. “Sometimes it’s hard for me to talk. I just clam up.”
But she is open for people to reach out to her if they need to talk, she said. People who knew Brandon have contacted her on Facebook, or came up to her at his memorial. She has found peace in knowing that he’s no longer suffering, she said. He admitted what he did during relapses “was messed up,” and loved and encouraged others to be healed, she said.
“I just hope everybody is off to a new year safe and wanting to make changes in their life,” Page-Daddezio said.