Tim Russell, a special investigator and head of Perry County's "Dream Team" dies in St.Louis

Tim Russell, the tough, yet soft-spoken law enforcement investigator for the office of Perry County State's Attorney David Stanton, has died at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis. His passing came at approximately 6 p.m. Thursday evening after a heart attack.

He had been undergoing a tough regimen of chemotherapy for treatment of cancer that he was diagnosed with last fall. There is a huge sense of loss among family, friends and all of law enforcement today at the loss of this great man, fair-minded, who always put victims first and all other above himself.

For over three decades he was the lead investigator among what might best be referred to as "the Dream Team" of drug enforcement. It is a huge personal loss and a professional loss for law enforcement --for all of us--everywhere.