CHICAGO (AP) – On the day he died, officer Charles Joseph Gliniewicz radioed to a police dispatcher that he was in pursuit of three suspicious men. Moments later, fellow officers found his body and launched a manhunt for his killers.
Three weeks after the lieutenant was shot to death in a remote part of northern Illinois, investigators have revealed little about their investigation, saying they are still awaiting lab results, despite the urgency with which police slayings are usually handled.
And the coroner says he has been unable to rule the matter a homicide, suicide or an accident – a stance that has deepened longstanding tensions between him and local law enforcement.
“There are no developments,” said Detective Chris Covelli, a spokesman for the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, repeating a comment he’s made for days.
Authorities have made no arrests or identified any suspects. The apparent lack of progress has raised concerns about the investigation and left the public in the dark about whether there’s a killer on the loose. The coroner and the chief investigator were to meet in person this week for the first time to discuss the death of the popular officer known affectionately around the village of Fox Lake as “G.I. Joe.”