Van Buren police captain describes scene where slain family was found
Previous story: Woman, 2 children found dead in home of man killed in head-on crash
Police have released more details about the deaths of two children and their mother in their Van Buren Township home, MLive.com reported.
The Vanderlinden home at 6655 Anna in Van Buren Township.
Gus Burns | MLive
Authorities discovered the bodies Thursday when they went to notify the family of a wrong-way head-on crash on Interstate 94 in Indiana that killed 39-year-old Michael Vanderlinden, who lived in the Van Buren home. Officers were notifying wife Linda Vanderlinden, 34, reports indicate.
The scene was "very upsetting," Van Buren Township Police Capt. Gregory M. Laurain told MLive. "We've never seen anything of this magnitude."
Michael Vanderlinden, who lived on Anna Drive, died when his car crashed into another vehicle about 1:30 a.m. Thursday on I-94 near Michigan City while he was driving the wrong way, according to reports. The other driver, Juan Nelson Jr., 45, of Portage, Ind., also died in what was described as a violent crash, The View newspaper in Belleville reported.
Police will release the official causes of death and the three victims' identities following the autopsies, scheduled for Friday. Police also removed a suspected murder weapon from the home, although they would not specify on what kind.
Laurain told MLive Vanderlinden is a person of interest in the slayings, adding that there is nothing to indicate another suspect.
Read the full MLive.com report, including neighbors' reactions, here.
Comments
DJBudSonic
Fri, Aug 17, 2012 : 1:47 p.m.
Not that I really want to know but "very upsetting" hardly qualifies as a description of a scene.
GoNavy
Fri, Aug 17, 2012 : 12:38 p.m.
What a terrible tragedy. Obviously, without making any innuendos or running afoul of AA.com's moderation, *I hope they identify the man who did all of this.*
Steve McQueen
Fri, Aug 17, 2012 : 8:42 a.m.
So this guy kills his wife and 2 children...then goes out in a head on crash killing another innocent person. This world that we live in is full of horrible people.
cinnabar7071
Fri, Aug 17, 2012 : 2:11 p.m.
I wouldn't say the world is full of horrible people, but they do seem to make the news more then the good ones