On September 1, 2015, American police lieutenant Charles Joseph "Joe" Gliniewicz was found dead in a wooded area in Fox Lake, Illinois.

However, after two months of investigation, officials of the Lake County Major Crime Task Force[2] concluded that Gliniewicz had actually committed suicide that he staged to look like murder, after realizing that his many years of criminal activity would soon be exposed.

[10] Gliniewicz was in command of the Fox Lake Police Explorer program Post 300,[11] an organization mentoring adolescents interested in law enforcement careers.

He previously obtained a master's degree from Kaplan University and remained in the United States Army Reserve from 1981 until 2007, separating with the rank of first sergeant.

A massive manhunt was launched for these three male suspects, involving some 400 law enforcement officers on foot, via vehicles, helicopters, drones, and on horseback.

Nearly 100 state and local law enforcement authorities set up roadblocks and searched the area along with 11 police K-9 and three air units from around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday until around 2:30 a.m. Thursday.

[22] Many early reactions blamed Gliniewicz's death on a "war on cops" and the Black Lives Matter movement, which had become prevalent the previous year during the Ferguson unrest.

The investigation concluded in November 2015 that Gliniewicz had been embezzling money for at least seven years from the police explorer program, that he believed that his crimes were about to be exposed, and that his death had been a "carefully staged suicide.

[27][28] Further incidents involving Gliniewicz were also uncovered including him threatening an emergency dispatcher with a firearm, allegations of sexual harassment, alcohol abuse and numerous suspensions.

Financial statements were also discovered revealing that he had embezzled a five-figure sum from the explorer program and spent it on things such as vacations, mortgage payments, gym memberships and pornography.

Investigators also discovered large stockpiles of military surplus gear in his police explorer headquarters such as kevlar helmets, radios, ballistic vests, combat boots, gas masks and gun belts by the hundreds.

[41][42] Just the first three weeks of the investigation cost taxpayers in 50 suburban jurisdictions more than $300,000 to pay local law enforcement personnel working on the case, according to the Daily Herald.