Extended curfew for Vernon Hills woman accused of setting off false manhunt
Curfew has been extended for a Vernon Hills woman accused of setting off a false manhunt a day after Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz was found dead in Fox Lake.
Lake County Judge Victoria Rossetti allowed Kristin Kiefer, 21, extended time in the evening hours — if it is approved by pretrial services — because Kiefer is trying to find a job. Before Wednesday, she was required to be at home between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., under conditions of her $100,000 bail. She is not housed in Lake County jail after posting 10 percent of the bail required.
Defense attorneys did not specify the type of job Kiefer is seeking, but said it required her to be available after 10 p.m.
Kiefer's trial was also delayed until Sept. 6. Attorneys said they were working to resolve the case short of trial.
Authorities said Kiefer phoned the Fox Lake nonemergency police number Sept. 2 and told police she was confronted by two men who matched descriptions provided by police in the hours after Gliniewicz was found dead.
She told police that two men — one black and one white — approached her stopped car near a cornfield and asked for a ride to Wisconsin. The car was stopped on Route 12 because she had car trouble, police said.
Kiefer told police she ran back to her car after talking with the men and that one of them tried to force open her car door.
She later admitted she made up the story after DNA and fingerprint tests on the car came up empty, police said.
The ruse resulted in 85 law enforcement officers, two helicopters and several canine units descending on the cornfield to search for the men, authorities said.
Police said Kiefer told investigators she lied because she wanted attention from the family employing her as a nanny. Authorities said Kiefer chose the Volo location because she was aware of Gliniewicz's death in nearby Fox Lake.
Gliniewicz was found shot to death Sept. 1 in a swampy area of Fox Lake. In November, investigators announced he had killed himself to cover up his embezzlement of funds from the Fox Lake Law Enforcement Explorers Post 300.
Kiefer is due back in court Aug. 9.