Apr 3, 2008 10:22 pm US/Central
Tinley Park Murder Victim Honored Through Fund
2 Months After Lane Bryant Shootings, Gunman Still On The Loose
TINLEY PARK, Ill. (CBS) ―
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Five women were shot to death inside this Lane Bryant store in Tinley Park during a robbery attempt on Feb. 2, 2008.
CBS
It's been two months since the murder of five women in a Tinley Park clothing store, and the killer remains on the loose.
Area ministers plan on gathering in front of the Tinley Park store Friday at 6 p.m. for a prayer vigil.
CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli reports on victim's family is doing what the can to honor a woman who helped so many through her life and work.
Two-month-old Carrie Hudek is named for an aunt she never had a chance to meet. Carrie Hudek-Chiuso was one of five women killed in a Lane Bryant store.
Little Carrie was born the very next day. Her mother, Jennifer Hudek, named her child to honor the sister-in-law and best friend lost when a gunman walked into the store and robbed it before executing the women.
Two months later the emotional wounds are still raw.
But Hudek-Chiuso's only brother spoke Thursday night about the struggle of carrying on without her.
"I think my father described it like being in a row boat in the ocean by yourself and wave after wave of sadness keeps hitting you," said Mike Hudek.
Hudek says the only thing that helps him through it is to keep reflecting on the kids whose lives Carrie touched as a social worker at Homewood Flossmoor High School.
Those same children turned out in droves to say goodbye at Hudek-Chiuso's funeral.
"For seven hours I stood there in awe about kid after kid and parent after parent thanking us for how much Carrie had helped them and not only helped them but saved their lives," Hudek said.
Now, since Hudek-Chiuso isn't here anymore to counsel the sometimes troubled students at her school, her family has created
Carrie's Fund in her honor. The not-for-profit organization is raising money to send students at Homewood Flossmoor to college and vocational schools.
Hudek says the best way to honor his sister is to help the students to whom she dedicated her life's work.
"To work with the kids that she loved so much, it was a testament to her to see 'em through the wake and funeral and we want to continue that so that her dream lives on forever," Hudek said.
Her family has already raised $25,000 for Carrie's Fund, and hope to raise much more. A fundraiser is planned for April 5 at Samantha Marie Salon in New Lenox.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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