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The Lake County sheriff’s office has formally taken over the theft investigation left in the wake of the suicide of Fox Lake Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz, authorities said Friday.

The death investigation run by the Lake County Major Crime Task Force, with federal assistance, concluded that Gliniewicz, 52, had for years been taking funds from the village’s Explorer youth police training program prior to a “carefully staged suicide,” task force commander George Filenko announced at a news conference Wednesday.

With the cause of the death determined, the task force’s role in ongoing investigations has come to an end, sheriff’s Detective Christopher Covelli said.

The financial investigation into the apparent theft “falls under our umbrella,” Covelli said Friday, referring to the sheriff’s office.

On Thursday, Covelli said he could neither confirm nor deny that investigators were looking into any roles played by Gliniewicz’s wife and oldest son, which The Associated Press has reported.

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Once the sheriff’s office completes its investigation, the results will be forwarded to the Lake County state’s attorney’s office for review of possible charges, Covelli said. He did not provide an estimated time frame for the investigation.

Covelli said there also is an ongoing federal investigation related to Gliniewicz but said he could not provide details.

Filenko announced Wednesday that Gliniewicz committed suicide Sept. 1 after realizing his “extensive criminal acts,” including seven years of alleged theft from the village’s Explorer program, would have eventually come to light in a review of village finances.

Authorities have not pinned down an estimate regarding the amount of money taken from the program, beyond a comment from Filenko that it involved a five-figure amount. Officials said Gliniewicz, who had been hailed as a hero following his death, spent the money on various expenses, from mortgage payments to adult websites.

Additional details about Gliniewicz’s troubling career with the Fox Lake Police Department came to light late Thursday and Friday with the release of his personnel file. The records detail allegations of sexual harassment, intimidation and alcohol abuse. Text messages allegedly also show Gliniewicz discussed hiring a hit man to kill a village official.

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