Nicholas Laureys, the 15-year-old killed in a hit-and-run last week near Crystal Lake, was remembered as an outgoing and polite young man who liked to play video games and ride ATVs.
Nicholas was identified by his family as the bicycle rider who was killed when a car hit him from behind July 2 along Terra Cotta Road and fled the scene.
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Nicholas Laureys, 15, of the Crystal Lake area, was killed in a hit-and-run crash while riding his bicycle on July 2, 2025. (Photo provided by Lance Laureys)
Authorities announced that they located the car suspected in the hit-and-run and are no longer searching for suspects but have not announced any charges.
Lance Laureys, Nicholas’ uncle and guardian, said Nicholas was “his buddy” who liked gaming, was good at fixing things, enjoyed working with his hands and taking things apart, and had turned Laureys’ basement “into his man cave.” Nicholas also liked to fish and was on his way home from fishing with a friend when the crash happened.
He was “courteous and polite,” regularly checked on an older relative and helped out with Laureys’ boat on Lake Geneva and at his farm in Woodstock.
Nicholas had attended Woodstock North High School for his freshman and sophomore years but had planned to transfer for his junior year this fall to Prairie Ridge High School, which he’d been looking forward to because his best friend is enrolled there.
The family had moved from another part of Crystal Lake to an unincorporated area north of town, close to where the crash occurred, to a house with a pool and a bigger backyard to provide more room for the family.
Laureys recalled how he would tell is son to use the bike trail near his home rather than take the shorter route along Terra Cotta Road, the narrow two-lane stretch on which the crash occurred.
“At this moment I feel every part of my own heart ripped apart from what has happened to all of us,” Laureys posted on Facebook.
A gofundme fundraiser has been set up to help pay for funeral expenses at gofundme.com/f/honoring-nick-laureys-funeral-memorial-support. The family also hopes to use available funds to find a way to make something positive out of the tragedy.
Laureys wrote on gofundme: “Nick’s loss has left a hole in our family and our community. We are raising funds to help cover funeral and memorial expenses, and any extra will go into a trust in Nick’s name. I’m also hoping to create something meaningful in his memory – a reflective shirt for kids or a reflective drawstring backpack, with hope that the Woodstock North students and teachers will help design it, to help keep others safe at night.”
Laureys called his nephew “a caring, spirited teenager who pushed boundaries but always knew how much he was loved. Our best memories are simple moments together, like playing hide and seek with our ATVs at the farm or talking through tough times.”
