CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Police suspect the deaths of a 36-year-old man and his 9-year-old daughter on Thursday in Lake Villa was a murder-suicide.
The Lake County Major Crimes Task Force suspects the father killed his 9-year-old daughter. Officers found the pair dead at about 2:15 p.m. Thursday inside the man’s home in the 100 block of Briar Ridge Lane.
According to police, the girl’s mother and the father lived separately and shared custody of the girl.
Lake County Major Crimes Task Force spokeman Christopher Covelli said the mother had agreed to let her daughter stay overnight with her father. The mother became worried when the girl had been reported absent to school, and the mother could not reach the father.
Lake Villa Police made a well-being checked and found the bodies.
While autopsies have yet to be conducted, preliminary information suggests the man took his own life after killing his daughter, and police are investigating the incident as a murder-suicide, Covelli said.
“This is an incredibly tragic set of circumstances and our deepest condolences go out to the family of the child. I want to reassure the Lake Villa community that there is no evidence to suggest there is a threat to the public,” Lake Villa Police Chief Craig Somerville said.
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The incident remains under investigation, and autopsies have been scheduled to determine the causes of death.
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