Carol Gudbrandsen started at the LCSAO in 2010 and worked in the Cyber Crime Division, specializing in digital evidence forensics of computers, mobile devices, and computer networks. Her abilities made her an integral part of all types of criminal investigations including homicides, crimes against children, sexual assault, theft, burglary, and white-collar crimes. 

"Carol has been a pioneer in this office. Because of her work, our office has secured justice for thousands of survivors in Lake County and beyond. We will miss her professionalism, her expertise, and her compassion for all. We wish her and Browser well in their retirement, “Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart stated.  

Browser is an English Labrador who was trained to sniff out a bonding chemical baked on to all electronic circuitries. He assisted Carol and other law enforcement agencies throughout Lake County, including federal agencies, in search warrants.  

“Browser always knew when we were going on a search warrant,” Carol said. “He would get really excited, especially when he saw the food pouch that was waiting for him.” 

Over the years, Carol performed thousands of forensic examinations on various types of digital evidence and was the forensic analyst for all Lake County police departments. Carol also worked on cases for Homeland Security, FBI, DEA, and the Illinois Attorney General's Office.  

“When I first started, I used to work mainly on child exploitation cases, but now, digital forensics is used in almost every case. The challenge is knowing exactly what to extract from the devices,” Carol said. 

At her retirement party, Carol said she will miss working with law enforcement and with everyone in the State’s Attorney’s Office. She said Browser is a very social dog and that he will certainly miss all the people he got to see every day. 

Carol will be replaced by JB Brooks as Cyber Lab Director. Brooks currently works in the cyber lab as a forensic analyst. Rinehart stated, “As a former law enforcement officer and penetration tester, Brooks brings a wealth of knowledge from the public and private sectors to our cyber lab. While we will miss Carol, we are also confident that JB can build on her work and lead our cyber lab as we upgrade multiple systems through recent federal grants.”