Authorities in Michigan are investigating a possible murder-suicide after a mother and her three young daughters were reportedly found shot to death at a home on Monday afternoon.
WOOD-TV reported that the bodies of Alaina Rau, 2, Cassidy Rodery, 6, Kyrie Rodery, 8, and Aubrianne Moore, 28, were discovered at a residence in Cedar Springs, though police are currently working to determine if that is where the children were killed. Declining to disclose whether the bodies were located inside or outside, authorities said a search of the property indicated that the children were shot at another location—but that location remains a mystery.
Sheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young told the news station that there’s no threat to the public, but said she wouldn’t call the fatal shootings a murder-suicide so early in their investigation. However, relatives told the outlet that they believe Moore killed herself after murdering her three daughters.
According to WZZM, Moore was hospitalized in Grand Rapids for more than a week in September—after a doctor found she was a danger to herself and couldn’t fulfill her basic needs. In a petition filed in Newaygo County Probate Court which sought mental health treatment for the mother of three, a physician diagnosed her with schizophrenia, claiming she was suffering from severe hallucinations and paranoia.
The news station reported that the petition proposed Moore spend up to 90 days in a mental health institution. It’s currently unclear what events preceded doctors’ involvement in September.
“I believe the individual has mental illness and as a result of that mental illness the individual can reasonably be expected within the near future to intentionally or unintentionally seriously physically injure self or others and has engaged in an act or acts or made significant threats that are substantially supportive of this expectation,” a social worker wrote in the petition, according to WOOD.
“Aubrianne is keeping her kids home from school because the television told her there would be a school bus accident today. Aubrianne stays awake at night believing people will break into her home. Aubrianne is not eating believing food is being poisoned.”
A motive in the slayings is unknown. The late children’s father expressed shock and disbelief following the apparent murder-suicide and claimed to be unsure of what happened after Moore left the hospital in September.
“I don’t know if anybody did any follow up. I don’t know if they monitored her,” he told the news station. “I’m guessing from what happened that she probably wasn’t taking her medication.”
[Featured image: Alaina Rau, Cassidy Rodery, Kyrie Rodery, Aubrianne Moore/WOOD-TV]
