When Ames resident Willy Nast knocked on Al and Mary Ann Signorelli’s door in Aurora, Illinois, he was a nervous 24‑year‑old creative writing student with a handheld recorder and no clear plan. He knew one thing — he couldn’t stop thinking about their son, Jeff.
Jeff Signorelli, 18, was killed in 2002 in what police described as a random act of violence. Shots were fired blindly through the back wall of a garage where he and his friends gathered on a summer night. The case remains unsolved.
Nast felt the impact of the loss more than he realized. He and Signorelli were the same age, graduated from high school the same year, and though they attended different schools, shared several mutual friends…