A Knox County Sheriff’s Deputy has been presented with the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Life Saving Award for his actions on October 4, 2024 that located a 16-year-old motorist who had been trapped underneath her vehicle.
“Deputy Austin McGrew’s tenacity and dedication helped to locate and save the life of a missing teenage driver,” said Illinois FOP State Lodge President Chris Southwood. “A 16-year-old girl is alive today because of Austin’s decisive actions.’”
During the late evening hours of October 4, Galesburg Police received a call to locate a 16-year-old girl who failed to come home from work after getting off at 8 pm. The department pinged the missing girl’s cellphone which provided a three-mile radius of where she could be located. Knox County Deputy Austin McGrew’s tenacity in his search plan enabled him to locate the missing girl 30 yards off the road with her vehicle on top of her. The girl, who had been exposed to the elements for six hours, would not have survived had Deputy McGrew not located her.
The Life Saving award was presented on December 6 during a meeting of Spoon River Valley FOP Lodge 427, of which McGrew is a member.
The Fraternal Order of Police, founded in 1915, is the largest organization of sworn law enforcement officers in the United States. With a proud tradition of officers representing officers, the FOP is the most respected and most recognized police organization in the country. The Illinois FOP, chartered in 1963, is the second largest State Lodge, proudly representing more than 34,000 active duty and retired police officers – more than 10 percent of all FOP members nationwide. Visit www.ilfop.org.
***Courtesy of the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police***
