Cook County Sheriff's police detective named Officer of the Year for solving cold case
CHICAGO - Cook County Sheriff's Police Detective Ginny Georgantas has been named the 2021 Officer of the Year by the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
She earned the honor by solving the decades-old homicide of infant twins, whose bodies were found in a trash bin in unincorporated Stickney Township back in 2003.
MORE: Woman charged with 2003 murders of newborn twin sons in Stickney Township
Fifteen years later, Georgantas re-opened the cold case, learned the technique of forensic genealogy and zeroed in on the twins' unknown mother--A DNA match who is now charged with their murder.
"It just really hit home for everyone. Especially back then. They tried so hard to solve it, so when genetic genealogy broke in 2018, for law enforcement to use that resource, they were the first ones that I thought of. The twins," said Detective Georgantas. "Cause I just can't think of more innocent victims that deserve justice. There was no one fighting for them."
Georgantas is only the second Cook County officer to ever win this prestigious award.
The last time it happened was 1975.