A few months ago, a Chicago police officer’s life came to an abrupt end. Minutes before his death, Joseph Gliniewicz radioed that he was pursuing three suspicious men in a northern suburb of Chicago. When the backup officers arrived, they first spotted the squad car and about 50 yards away, they noticed the body.
The crime scene investigation unit found a bullet that struck his cell phone and ballistic vest. They also uncovered a second bullet that pierced his upper chest.
An intense manhunt began immediately. The search unit included hundreds of officers, helicopters with heat-sensing scanners, and well-trained K-9 units. The cost for this intense search escalated drastically. Having to pay overtime and numerous other costs, the manhunt for Gliniewicz murderer/s totaled more than $300,000.
After some time had passed, a local coroner, Dr. Thomas Rudd, announced that the officer was killed by the devastating shot to his chest. Looking at the angle and depth of the bullet, Rudd determined that suicide was a very probable explanation.
This new development led to an investigation of the 30-year police veteran’s death. Formerly being hailed as a celebrated hero, he soon was seen in a different light. Evidence showed that Gliniewicz had embezzled tens of thousands of dollars from the town’s Police Explorer program over the course of about seven years. This money was spent on mortgage payments, travel expenses, gym memberships, and even adult websites.
The embezzlement was first discovered when text messages and messages through Facebook were exposed. A new administrator was getting ready to run an audit of the program and Gliniewicz knew he would be in trouble. The messages were self-incriminating and led investigators to the people who were in on the scheme.