Photos: Moving Vigil Held For 'GI Joe' Gliniewicz As Manhunt Continues

By Marielle Shaw in News on Sep 3, 2015 2:22PM

Hundreds of people made their way to Fox Lake’s Lakeside Park Wednesday evening to mourn the passing of Lake County police officer Charles Joseph Gliniewicz, better known to the community he served for 32 years as “G.I. Joe.” Gliniewicz was fatally shot by a trio of men who are still at-large as the manhunt for them continues into day 3.

Local businesses and churches passed out cold water, pop and Gatorade as people gathered on the beach to remember him.

The memorial service was put on by the Northeast Illinois Council of the Boy Scouts of America, but many organizations were a part of the ceremony, from the VFW to the Fox Lake Police Department Explorer Post that Gliniewicz founded, to help train children who were interested in law enforcement. The mayor of Fox Lake, Donny Schmit, remembered him most as an energetic, sympathetic friend.

Mike Johnson, a local preacher, stated that his 11 year old daughter remembered him not only as a good officer, but as a “nice guy” in the community, recalling that every year at Halloween, he would hand out freeze-pops to local trick-or-treaters. Johnson then urged the community to carry on Joe’s legacy by doing something kind, and encouraged attendees of the memorial to introduce themselves to the many police officers in attendance, and “get to know the people working to protect your community.”

Throughout the evening, story after story recounted that legacy in Fox Lake and beyond, as a gregarious, energetic man who was deeply involved in the community he served, and intensely dedicated to the Explorer Post he advised.

Gliniewicz’s wife also spoke, surrounded by her four sons. She thanked the community and those around the nation who were sending love and support, saying, "We all lost someone yesterday."

"He was my best friend, my hero, my world. He was my rock as much as I was his," she said. "Every night, he came home to me."

Meanwhile, the search for Gliniewicz’s killers continues, with helicopters and K-9 units still on the ground, and local and federal agencies still scouring Lake County for any leads or information that could lead to their capture. Law enforcement officials say they have been tipped off to new leads in the hunt that could lead them to the men soon, according to some reports from early Thursday.