Mourners Turn Out for Pontiac Officer's Funeral

A long line of mourners, including officers with police dogs, gathered in central Illinois to remember a Pontiac officer who was killed in a crash.

A funeral was held Saturday for 29-year-old Casey Kohlmeier, who died along with his canine partner Draco on Oct. 30. Authorities say Kohlmeier's vehicle was hit by a suspected drunken driver on Interstate 55 near Pontiac, about 85 miles southwest of Chicago.

Officials from the Duffy-Baier-Snedecor Funeral Home told The Bloomington Pantagraph that some mourners waited in three-hour-long line to attend a morning visitation.

Pontiac Police Chief Jim Woolford said Kohlmeier was an exceptional officer who quickly excelled after he joined the force.

Officer Kohlmeier was sitting in the median along I-55 shortly after midnight when he was struck by another vehicle, Woolford said.

The dog, Draco, was also killed.

"This is a hole we can't fill," Woolford said as he fought back tears.

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Woolford said Pontiac, located about 100 miles southwest of Chicago between Joliet and Bloomington, hadn't lost an officer in the line of duty for at least 19 years.

A 33-year-old from South Carolina is charged with aggravated driving under the influence for the wreck.