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Kalamazoo Double Murder-Suicide: Investigation Continues

Posted at 6:58 PM, Jul 16, 2013
and last updated 2013-07-16 19:34:45-04

KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The investigation into what officers are calling a double murder-suicide continues as detectives try to find clues as to what could have led up to a husband taking his own life, after killing his wife and son.

The incident happened at a home located at 922 Miller Road in Kalamazoo.  Assistant Chief Brian Uridge, with Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety, said that on Monday, officers received a call from a worried parent, who told them they haven’t heard from their daughter in several days.

Uridge said officers arrived at the home at about 6:30 p.m. With the woman’s family waiting outside, authorities broke their way into the house. Inside, they said they found the body of a 37-year-old woman, a 41-year-old man and a 17-month-old boy.

“Based on physical evidence at the scene and other witness information there’s the possibility that it could have been a number of days since the deaths occurred,” Uridge said.

On Tuesday, at about 5:30 p.m., detectives and animal rescue were on the scene. Evidence was removed from the home. However, it’s unclear what was brought out. As for the pets, animal rescue said they were there to retreive two cats. It’s not clear what condition the animals are in, or how long they’ve been inside the home.

FOX 17 spoke with neighbors in the area. There are several houses nearby that are all relatively close to each other. Still, neighbors said they never heard anything out of the ordinary. Many of them said they just can’t believe something so tragic could happen so close to where they live, on such a quiet street.

The crime scene is something Uridge said his officers are even struggling with.

“They’re all mothers and fathers, uncles and aunts,” he said. “It takes an unbelievable emotional toll on the officers involved. The actual crime lab technicians were inside the house for over seven hours.”

Uridge told FOX 17 they’re in the process of interviewing neighbors and family members. For now, he said they are holding the names of the suspect and the victims until all family members have been contacted. Those names are expected to be released on Wednesday.

In the meantime, an autopsy is underway for all three people. The results, Uridge said, are expected to be in on Wednesday.