Mugshot/Facebook Joshua Danehower (l) and the Glyers (r)
Joshua Danehower is the Virginia FedEx airport worker accused of shooting a non-profit leader to death as the victim slept in bed with his wife.
The victim, Gret Glyer, was the CEO of the nonprofit Donorsee. Friends, co-workers, and loved ones filled social media with tributes to Glyer. The suspect also goes by the name Josh Danehower.
“Imagine if we could end extreme poverty in our lifetime,” Glyer’s last post on Facebook reads. “DonorSee has redefined our mission statement. It is bigger, bolder, and more audacious than anything we have shared in the past.”
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Danehower Is Accused of Shooting Glyer While He Was Asleep With His Wife Heather Glyer in Bed
According a June 29, 2022, press release from the City of Fairfax Police Department, on June 24, at 2:58 a.m., the City of Fairfax police responded to a home along Village Court after a 911 call was made from the residence saying a person had been shot.
When officers arrived, they found Glyer deceased in a bedroom.
“Investigation revealed that an acquaintance of the family had entered the residence and fired multiple rounds at Mr. Glyer while he was asleep in bed,” police wrote.
“The investigation also revealed that Mr. Glyer’s wife was asleep at the time of the shooting and was lying in bed next to him. Mr. Glyer’s wife and children were escorted by officers from the home unharmed.”
Police developed probable cause to arrest a suspect.
The news release says that Joshua David Danehower, 33, of Arlington, Virginia, was arrested and charged with one count of second-degree murder and one count of use of a firearm during the commission of a felony. He was arrested on the evening of June 28, 2022, at the Dulles Airport where he worked. He is being held without bond.
Authorities say there is “no reason to believe that Mr. Danehower was colluding with anyone else and it appears that he acted alone in the murder of Mr. Glyer.”
2. Danehower Is the Ex-Boyfriend of Glyer’s Wife
According to court documents obtained by WDVM-TV, Danehower had once dated Glyer’s wife.
Danehower “had been reaching out regularly to the victim’s wife,” the television station reported, adding that he wanted to “reconnect” with her.
A GoFundMe page to help Heather Glyer has raised more than $140,000. It reads,
Gret Glyer, husband and father of two children under 2, passed away tragically on June 24th. Gret was the CEO and owner of DonorSee, a charitable giving and fundraiser platform, doing amazing things for the Kingdom of God. Please help us give back to this amazing family.
Please consider donating to this fund to help cover funeral expenses for Gret, as well as help to provide for his wife and children.
3. Danehower, Who Has Extensive Ties to Virginia, Has a Picture of a Sheep as His Facebook Profile Picture
Online records show an Arlington, Virginia, address for Danehower, 33.
He has an old Twitter page. In 2011, he shared an Atlantic story headlined, “Why Shouldn’t We Celebrate Osama’s Death?” He quoted another person allegedly having a “ranking system” for girls and wrote about sports.
An old LinkedIn page said he had worked as a tutor and graduated from the University of Virginia in 2011 with a bachelor’s of science degree in commerce, accounting, and finance.
Several old Facebook pages for him were deleted. A cache of a posting from 2017 said he was seeking a roommate in East Falls Church, Virginia. An existing Facebook page had a picture of a sheep for the profile picture, a photo of some books and not much else. The family has extensive ties to Virginia per online records and social media.
4. Danehower, a FedEx Employee for Less Than a Month, Asked Whether He Could Order a Pizza
At the end of his initial hearing, Danehower asked, “Can I order a pizza,” WDVM-TV reported.
Danehower had not worked at the Washington D.C. airport long.
Danehower “had been a FedEx employee for just under a month,” the station reported.
5. Glyer Was Remembered as an Inspirational Person
Trinity Christian School of Fairfax wrote:
With heavy hearts, we mourn the loss of our beloved Gret Glyer, Trinity alum (’08) and board member. While his earthly life was cut short, he used his time to make an eternal impact, the magnitude of which cannot be measured. He showed us an example of what it means to live a life of truth, courage, and service. While working at a car rental company in 2013, Gret yearned to make a more meaningful impact for the Kingdom of God. So, he quit his job to teach mathematics to und… See more
Owen O’Doherty also wrote a lengthy tribute to Glyer on Facebook. It read, in part:
Last Friday, we received the most unimaginable and tragic news at DonorSee. We lost one of life’s greats, our Founder and CEO, Gret Glyer, to a despicable crime.
It’s still difficult to fathom and wrap our heads around how such a thing could happen and how a life such as his could be cut so short in this way.
As we try to come to terms with that, we are focusing on celebrating everything he was and achieved in life, which was immense. As anyone who has ever come into contact with Gret will tell you, he was an amazing light and a spirit of buoyant optimism with a quick wit, a big personality, and a great vision to make the world a better place for those less fortunate.
And what a difference he made.
I have been fortunate to witness first hand the change he has brought to communities that needed help. I witnessed communities where he built houses for those without shelter, where communities of young people previously denied an education due to economic circumstances can now attend school. Through his founding and building of DonorSee, he scaled that reach, partnering with nonprofits to raise funds to drive transformational projects around the globe.
Gret was an inspiration.