State Police hunt for Herod stabber

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Illinois State Police Zone 7 Investigations is pursuing leads in the stabbing of a Herod man Sunday afternoon.

At 12:50 p.m. Sunday, Illinois State Police District 22 and Pope County Sheriff's Department responded to a rural residence on Henry Hicks Road, Herod.

A man came to the residence of Herschel D. Matheny, 82, and Jacqueline C. Hicks, 75, and asked to use the phone, according to a press release from the Illinois State Police.

When the phone was given to the man, he stabbed Matheny in the chest and struggled with Hicks, demanding money, according to the ISP. Hicks said she could get money from another room. The suspect allowed her to leave the room, where she obtained a firearm and forced the subject to leave.

Matheny was flown to an Evansville hospital and is expected to survive. The suspect remains at large.

It is unclear whether the residents knew the attacker.

"I could not comment on whether the victims knew the attacker," ISP Zone 7 Commander Captain Scott Rice said.

Rice would not divulge any descriptive information on the man or the vehicle. The ISP broadcast a radio alert for officers to look for a dark-colored car.

Rice said investigators have a more detailed description than that, but declined to share them.

Spokeswomen for Deaconess Hospital and St. Mary's Hospital in Evansville, Ind., both said there was no record of Matheny being admitted to their respective hospitals.

There are situations - such as in violent crimes - hospitals will not disclose whether patients have been admitted.