Joliet Police Unable To Solve Triple Murder On Great Falls Drive

JOLIET, IL - In September, during the middle of the night, someone who was inside the McGee family home in Joliet's Cumberland Subdivision pointed a gun at Anthony McGee's head and fatally shot the ex-convict. Two of McGee's closest friends, Manny Hernandez and Gabriella Rueda, also met the same fate. Three murder victims, all 22 years old. One apparent gunman. No obvious clues that led to an immediate arrest.

The killer also caught a lucky break; time was on his side. The Joliet Police Department was not notified of the triple slaying until several hours later, at around 3 p.m. that Thursday, back on September 7.

It's now three-and-a-half months since the Joliet Police Department descended on the 2000 block of Great Falls Drive to take crime scene photos, collect forensic evidence and interview other friends and acquaintances who were in contact with McGee, Hernandez and Rueda in the hours before their deaths. Police have said there was a small party there that night.

So far, their killer remains at large.

If the Joliet Police Department believes it knows who the killer is, the department must been in agreement that it does not have sufficient evidence to arrest this person on three counts of murder. Meanwhile, the Joliet Police Department has stopped soliciting leads from people on social media. Drawing attention to the case, at this stage, only serves as a reminder to the community that one of the biggest homicide probes of the year at the Joliet Police Department has been an unsuccessful investigation thus far.

"Anyone who's been a victim of a death should always have closure," remarked Brenda Guethle, who lives down the street from McGee's mother's house on Great Falls Drive.

"They went through the death. They should not have to wonder why and who?" she added.

Many of these homes in the Cumberland subdivision were built around 2001. The site of the homicides, which is in Joliet but has a Plainfield mailing address, is near County Line Road between Caton Farm Road and Theodore Street.

In late September, when the triple murder probe was three weeks old, Joliet Police Chief Brian Benton told Patch that his agency had a person of interest in the case.

"We are making progress albeit not as quickly as we would like ... we don't have enough probable cause at this point to make an arrest," Benton said at the time. "Right now we need to solidify that lead. We need more evidence.

"You have to be confident that the charges will stand. We are working with the State's Attorney's Office to make sure that all of the work lends itself to making an arrest ... At this point, we don't have enough, and we need more evidence."

Chief Benton did not return multiple messages left with him seeking comment for this article.

On Monday, Will County State's Attorney spokesman Chuck Pelkie directed any comments about the Great Falls Drive triple murders to the Joliet Police Department since that agency is in charge of the case.

In any event, as this year draws to a close, Joliet Patch returned to Great Falls Drive to speak with residents in the neighborhood to get their impressions about the triple murder that remains unsolved.

Anthony McGee grew up on Great Falls Drive and he graduated from Plainfield South High School. But McGee's life went down the wrong path. He became a familiar name around the Joliet Police Department for all the wrong reasons.

During his late teens, McGee was involved in an armed robbery where he put a knife up to someone's throat. McGee was also incarcerated for a good portion of 2015, 2016 and earlier this year. Then, months after being paroled from the Illinois Department of Corrections, McGee got murdered inside his house on the same night he hosted a gathering for some of his closest friends.

In September, Patch reported the motive for the murders may involve drugs or gangs.

Anthony McGee, murder victim and ex-convict

Guethle, the neighbor, said she holds the Joliet Police Department in high regard, but she also fears that more immediate crimes are taking precedence around the city of Joliet. "I know it's not on the backburner, but they have so many other new things," she said of Joliet's police detectives. "Hopefully there is someone still giving time to it.

"What I don't understand is why they don't keep us more informed on updates, even if it's not anything new to say."

Patch asked whether she remains hopeful the triple murderer will be apprehended anytime soon.

"Common sense tells you that the more time the criminal has to get away, the harder it will be," she answered.

When asked for her reaction that the triple murder on her block remains unsolved, Guethle remarked, "I think it's a letdown. The police have a hard job though. Crime is so high. It's everywhere."

As more and more time passes, people around the Joliet and Plainfield area can't help but wonder whether the killer of Anthony McGee, Manny Hernandez and Gabriella Rueda made sure to cover his tracks to get away with his gruesome crime.

"I guess it's got to be pretty hard," Guethle said. "You have to have that evidence. I haven't forgotten little Anthony. I think it will be a real while before everyone forgets."

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Main image and secondary images via Joliet Patch Editor John Ferak, mugshot of Anthony McGee via Illinois Department of Corrections