Police were searching Friday for a suspect who killed one man and injured two others with a rock as they walked along a trail at Camp Pine Woods in the Cook County forest preserve near Glenview and Mt. Prospect, authorities said.
The suspect was described as a 6-foot-tall white man between 20 and 25 years old with a thin build and a long thin face. He was also described as having a brown, buzz-style haircut and was last seen wearing sunglasses and a gray sweat shirt with the logo of a Michigan college on the front.
The suspect attacked each of the three victims with a rock during an altercation, according to Steve Mayberry, a spokesman for the Cook County Forest Preserve District. Someone called 911 after spotting the three victims on the trail, and forest preserve police responded at 1:25 p.m., Mayberry said.
Officers found Wayne Vaessen, 67, of Mt. Prospect dead, and two other men injured on the heavily wooded walking trail bound by River Road, Euclid Avenue, Interstate Highway 294, and Central Avenue. Vaessen had wounds to his head, authorities said.
William Campbell, 77, of Glenview was taken with a head injury to Glenbrook Hospital in Glenview, where he was treated and released, hospital spokeswoman Amy Ferguson said.
Edward Manchuck-Ong of Des Plaines was taken to Glenbrook Hospital with a head injury, then transferred to Evanston Hospital, Ferguson said. Hospital officials were not releasing information about his condition.
The three men had been walking together when they were attacked, Mayberry said. It was unclear what provoked the altercation or whether the suspect stole anything from the victims, authorities said.
Wayne Vaessen’s son, Dan, 45, of Wheeling, said his father was a retired heavy-machine operator who walked often.
“He was a very good man and a very good father. It’s a horrible thing that happened to him. We’re going to miss him,” Dan Vaessen said.
Police are asking anyone with information to call 708-865-4896.
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