Bugle Newspapers 9-23-21

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ReMeMBeRing 9/11

Survivor shares his story to Niles audience

By TRacy gRuen For the Bugle

@BugleNewspapers

Thomas Jones knew he had to make it down the stairwell in order to escape, so he stayed as focused and determined as possible.

Jones was in New York City with Morgan Stanley, working in the South Tower at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, when the building was under attack.

As part of the 20th anniversary, Jones shared his life-altering experience at the Niles-Maine District Library on Tuesday, Sept. 14 “People were very afraid,” said Jones, who is from the Chicagoland area.

“The building started trembling and people were grabbing the railings to steady themselves.”

Seeing his family again was what motivated him to keep walking down flights of stairs to get to safety.

He saw brief cases and purses scattered everywhere.

“I said to myself, ‘I’m going to see my wife and my children again,” shared Jones.

At that time, his kids were in elementary, junior high and high school and he was anxious to get back home to his wife and kids.

When Jones finally got to the bottom of the building, he witnessed a lot of debris and smoke. He walked into a business that let him use their phone to make long distance calls to let his family know he survived.

Jones met people, who were not as lucky, desperately searching for their loved ones.

“It was just heart-breaking,” he said.

Despite the extreme amount of anxiety people faced, Jones said he did not witness any negative acts while trying to escape the South Tower.

Although the experience has caused him to have some nightmares and be more “hyper aware,” his resilient and positive attitude have helped him.

“I’m confident that I’m a different

person now than I would have been,” said Jones. “I’m more reflective.”

Jolanta Walaszek of Niles, attended the event with her son, Luke, who is in 5th grade.

“It’s amazing how much he went through and how hard it was,” said Walaszek.

Walaszek said her son enjoys history and they were recently watching a documentary on 9/11.

She thought it would be a wonderful educational experience for him to listen to Jones speak about his first-hand experience escaping the World Trade Center.

Attendees asked questions after his presentation and thanked him for sharing his story.

Jones said he wanted to share his story with the public on the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and has been speaking at various locations.

“It was our story, not just mine,” Jones said, noting that anyone could have been a victim of the terrifying terrorist attacks. “I don’t want people to forget about it.”

The presentation was part of the library’s educational exhibit, “September 11, 2001: The Day That Changed the World.”

Through remarkable stories told in 14 posters, the exhibition encourages people to explore the impact of terrorism on individuals and communities at the local, national and international levels.

The photos and stories were provided by the 9/11 Memorial & Museum.

The library also held a virtual storytime called “When Sad Things Happen,” which was geared toward kids 2 to 6 years old and their caregivers.

“The program was a great opportunity for the community to hear Mr. Jones’ firsthand experience,” said Sasha Vasilic, public relations and marketing supervisor at the Niles-Maine District Library. “I think the audience was really interested in hearing about his experience which helped bring the exhibition to life.”

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STATE

Glasgow will join new state task force Will County State’s Attorney James W. Glasgow on Monday joined with Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, members of the law enforcement community, retail associations, and national retailers in the announcement of a new Organized Retail Crime Task Force established to address the rampant, multibillion dollar organized retail crime industry. Glasgow will be serving on the new Task Force in his capacity as President of the Illinois State’s Attorneys Association.

“Technology has made it increasingly easy to sell stolen merchandise through online marketplaces, and opportunistic criminals have ramped up their efforts exponentially as a result.

Lawmakers never imagined the type of theft that is occurring now when Illinois passed its retail theft statute, but there are other laws on the books that can be used to bring felony charges against individuals engaging in this type of organized enterprise, such as money laundering, burglary, and failing to pay sales taxes,” Glasgow said.

“Under the continuing financial crimes enterprise statute, for example, if an individual is selling stolen merchandise in five counties including Will, we can prosecute him for that criminal conduct in each of these counties. This Task Force will offer increasing flexibility in the ability of law enforcement to coordinate among jurisdictions

to catch these brazen criminals.”

Other members of the Task Force include the U.S. Secret Service, the Department of Homeland Security, the Illinois State Police, the Barrington Police Department, the West Chicago Police Department, the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, and the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police. Private partners include the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, the Magnificent Mile Association, the Chicago Automobile Trade Association, the Internet Association, and national retailers including CVS, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Target, Walgreens, and Walmart.

“These criminal enterprises pose a serious threat to our communities in terms of personal safety and public safety, along with significant economic losses. In addition to the $45 billion annual cost of retail crime, these sophisticated criminal organizations often are involved in other serious crimes such as human trafficking, illicit drug distribution, and money laundering,” Glasgow said. “The members of the Illinois State’s Attorneys Association stand ready to work cooperatively with the members of the Task Force and appreciate that Attorney General Raoul has included our state’s prosecutors in this important joint effort.”

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cooK counTy

Detective named 2021 International Officer of the Year Cook County Sheriff’s Police Detective Ginny Georgantas, whose tireless devotion to solving the 17-year-old murders of twin infant boys led her to learn the complex field of forensic genealogy, has been named the 2021 Officer of the Year by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart announced today.

“This case was cold for nearly two decades, but it was not forgotten,” Sheriff Dart said.

“Detective Georgantas’ incredible dedication to solving this case is evidence that we never give up in our search for justice. I’m proud to have such committed detectives working to help keep

our residents safe and prove that all cases are worthy of closure.”

Georgantas joined the Sheriff’s Office in 2011 as a Corrections Officer and transferred to the Sheriff’s Police in 2013. After being promoted to Detective in 2015, Georgantas learned of the unsolved murders of the boys, whose bodies were found in a trash bin in unincorporated Stickney Township back in 2003.

At the time of the original investigation, an autopsy determined the victims were born alive and died of asphyxiation, and the deaths were ruled homicides.

Sheriff’s Police conducted a thorough investigation at the time, but the case remained unsolved.

After years without any new developments in the case, it soon became clear to Georgantas that she would need to look to new technology if there were to be any hope of finding new leads. She devoted more than one thousand hours to learning the difficult and complicated processes of forensic genealogy, which -- in addition to months of traditional investigative work – enabled her and her colleagues to link DNA recovered at the original scene a possible blood relative of the victims This fresh lead led her and her supervisor to a stakeout outside a convenience store in Holland, Michigan, where they were able to recover a tossed cigarette butt

from the woman they believed was related to the infants.

Ultimately, the DNA profile of the woman Georgantas identified through her research matched that of the unknown birth mother of the victims, Antionette Briley, who subsequently confessed to giving birth to the boys in her bathtub and then discarding them alive in the trash can.

In December 2020, Briley was charged with two counts of firstdegree murder and is currently being held in Cook County Jail awaiting trial on $150,000 D-bond.

“It is an incredible honor to win this award, and I just want everyone to know that I could not have done it alone,” Georgantas said. “Everyone – from my supervisors and fellow detectives to the genealogist that taught me this work, to the other law enforcement partners that went out of their way to help – worked tirelessly to bring some measure of justice for these innocent children.”

The International Association

of Chiefs of Police Officer of the Year award recognizes exceptional achievements in policing on a global stage, rewarding those who show an unparalleled commitment to public service and community safety. This marks the second time a Cook County Sheriff’s Police Officer has won this award. The first was Officer Larry Ostrowski in 1975.

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