The deaths of three folks discovered Friday in a burning dwelling in Riverside are regarded as linked to the tried abduction of a teenage lady.
As police have been en path to the 11200 block of Worth Courtroom for a welfare verify on a person and a younger girl who have been having “some kind of disturbance” outdoors a residence, dispatchers acquired calls from motorists of smoke pouring from a house in the identical block, mentioned Officer Ryan Railsback, a spokesman for the Riverside Police Division.
Firefighters responded and have been extinguishing the fireplace once they found the our bodies of a person and two girls inside the home, Railsback mentioned. The victims have been recognized as Mark Winek, 69; his spouse, Sharie Winek, 65; and their daughter Brooke Winek, 38.
Investigators have decided that the lady concerned within the outside disturbance was a youngster who lived in the home, Railsback mentioned. The person she was with — Austin Lee Edwards, 28, of North Chesterfield, Va. — was recognized as the primary suspect within the three deaths, he mentioned. Edwards was tracked Friday night to San Bernardino County, the place he was fatally shot by sheriff’s deputies close to Needles after firing a gun at officers, legislation enforcement officers mentioned.
Riverside police detectives decided that Edwards had met the teenage lady on-line and misrepresented who he was, Railsback mentioned.
Edwards traveled from Virginia to Riverside, the place he parked his automobile in a neighbor’s driveway and walked to the teenager’s dwelling, officers mentioned. The precise trigger and method of the three deaths are beneath investigation, however police consider Edwards murdered the teenager’s grandfather, grandmother and mom earlier than taking the teenager to his automobile and driving away, in accordance with officers.
The teenager was not harmed.
Edwards was previously employed by the Virginia State Police and extra lately labored for the Washington County Sheriff’s Workplace in Virginia, Railsback mentioned.
