By David Propper
An Illinois couple and their two young children, along with the family’s three dogs, were all found fatally shot inside their suburban Chicago house Sunday night in a suspected quadruple murder, authorities said.
The bodies of father Alberto Rolon, mother Zoraida Bartolomei and their two children, 10-year-old Adriel and 7-year-old Diego, were found around 8:40 p.m. by Romeoville police after officers stopped by their home for a welfare check.
Three dogs were also found shot dead inside the home.
Romeoville Deputy Police Chief Chris Burne said during a press conference Monday police don’t believe the deaths were the result of a murder-suicide.
“Right now we are investigating this as a murder,” he said during the press conference streamed by NBC Chicago.
He also didn’t believe the surrounding community was at risk, though no arrest has been reported.
“Due to the timeframe that has gone by — more than 18 hours from the time we were contacted — we are not asking anybody to shelter in place, we are not actively looking for anybody in the area,” he said.
It’s unclear if the parents were married, Burne said.
The two children were both students at RC Hill Elementary School, Valley View School District Superintendent Rachel Kinder said in a note to the community.
Concerned family members called police after one of the victims did not report for work at 6 a.m. Sunday and didn’t reply to messages, police said.
Law enforcement believes the family of four was killed between 9 p.m. Saturday and 5 a.m. Sunday.
“I’m devastated,” neighbor Lynn Phillips, who lives one house away, told the Chicago Sun-Times. “I’ve been crying on and off all day.”
Neighbors told news outlets the family were nice people who weren’t out in the neighborhood often.
“They kept to themselves,” a neighbor told ABC 7 Chicago. “I really don’t know. Never saw the kids outside playing and I have a child. I don’t know really what happened and it’s very scary. Too close to home.”
“It was a mom and dad and a couple of kids. The parents would be outside working the yard, and we’d wave hi and bye, that kind of thing,” Phillips told the Sun-Times. “Nothing unusual. We all keep to ourselves.”
Next-door neighbor Carol Love told the newspaper the family made an effort to be good neighbors.
“It’s so sad. They were nice people. They didn’t bother anybody,” Love reportedly said. “I hope they find out who did it.”
A GoFundMe page was launched by loved ones to raise money for their funeral.
“These were hardworking people that had just bought their first home. Their kids were the sweetest most innocent angels who could hug your worries away,” the page said.
Romeoville is about 30 miles southwest of Chicago.
