Veteran suicides count according to who is filling out the death certificate...and counting

When will the government care enough to get it right for veterans?

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
December 27, 2019

When I read about more politicians seeking answers, I had to walk away from the computer. It is nothing we have not heard before and that is the most troubling thing of all. It is the same "efforts" seeking answers but there is never anyone held accountable for what has not happened.

So, let's begin with the letter that started me off.

Charlie Crist, Gus Bilirakis Want Ron DeSantis to Help Getting Accurate Information on Veterans’ Suicide Florida Daily December 26, 2019

Dear Governor DeSantis

We write to request your help in obtaining a true and accurate count of the annual number of veteran suicides in Florida. As members of Congress from Florida’s 12th and 13th Congressional Districts, we are honored to represent more than 110,000 of the 1,500,000 veterans who call the Sunshine State home. At a joint meeting of our Veterans Advisory Boards, local veteran leaders raised concerns that veterans suicide data may not be as up-to-date or accurate as it could be. We need the most accurate data possible to effectively tackle this epidemic facing our veteran community.

As you know, Congress tasks the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to report annual veterans suicide data, along with general data on mortality and life expectancy. However, because not all veterans use the VA, they also rely on a combination of U.S. Department of Defense service records and state death certificates. Unfortunately, state death certificates do not always tell the full picture. After a death, veteran status is indicated on a form filled out by a funeral home; however, when local medical examiners take over death investigations in cases of suspected suicide, they do not necessarily investigate whether the deceased is a veteran. We are concerned that this dynamic is leading to an undercount of veteran suicides. (click the link for the of the letter.)

In other words, they still do not know how many veterans have committed suicide. So when do they admit that with the known percentages rising, what they have done added to the misery veterans face everyday?

When do they hold anyone accountable for any of this? When do they demand answers as to why the "data" seems to keep changing as if they are making it all up?

When does someone hold all the charities collecting millions for "raising awareness" accountable and make them stop taking advantage of veterans?

Top all that off with veterans like this show up in a crime report along with their family members.

Man killed in Christmas Day murder-suicide suffered from PTSD, court documents say
RIO RANCHO, N.M.
According to court documents, the father found dead inside a Rio Rancho home with his wife and their two sons had just retired from the Army and was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Rio Rancho police found Carlos Velasquez, 50; Marilyn Velasquez, 45; Robert Velasquez, 22; and Adrian Velasquez, 14, dead inside the family’s Rio Rancho home on Christmas Day.

All four had been shot to death. According to a search warrant, the gun was found underneath Carlos Velasquez’s body. Those documents say the couple was going through a divorce.

"It hurts me to see or hear all the screaming and the crying and the people that they've lost, just to see that was very heartbreaking for me and my family," said a neighbor who wants to remain anonymous.

 Next time you hear someone say they know how many veterans have committed suicide, make them aware of this. Then ask them "What is the point of telling veterans what they already know...how to die?"

Police Officer victim of domestic violence...in her own home

Hero Down: Gothenburg Police Officer Jill Larson Murdered By Husband

Blue Lives Matter
Holly Matkin
June 14, 2019

Gothenburg Police Officer Jill Larson served her department for 12 years.

Gothenburg, NE – Gothenburg Police Officer Jill Larson was fatally shot by her husband at their home on June 7.

A relative discovered the bodies of the 53-year-old veteran officer and her 52-year-old husband, Jeff McCandless, at approximately 9p.m. the next day, and alerted police, the Kearney Hub reported.

Investigators said they believe Jeff murdered Officer Larson, then fatally shot himself, according to the Lincoln Journal Star.

The Dawson County Attorney’s Office and the Nebraska State Patrol are handling the ongoing investigation into the murder-suicide.

Officer Larson joined the Gothenburg Police Department in 2007, and became the third woman to ever serve on the city’s police force, according to her obituary.

“Jill was considered by many to be one of the best police officers this community has ever had,” the City of Gothenburg said in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
read more here

Deputy and wife murder suicide in Land O'Lakes

Deputy's wife texted 'Kirk has lost his mind' before murder-suicide, friend says
Tampa Bay Times
Howard Altman
September 24, 2018

LAND O’LAKES — Samantha Keithley sent a series of disturbing text messages late Sunday, complaining about her husband to a longtime friend.

A Hillsborough County deputy fatally shot his wife before turning the gun on himself in the 17000 block of Terrazzo Way in Land O'Lakes on Sept. 24, 2018. [TONY MARRERO | Times]

“Kirk has lost his mind Kristin,” she wrote in one text to friend Kristin Kellin. “He’s literally losing it. He’s been harassing me for the last 6 hours and I’ve asked him repeatedly to just leave me alone because I’m sick.”

The wife also wrote that she had tossed her ring outside, a reference to a wedding ring.

That was 11:50 p.m. The texts were not seen for hours. Sometime near midnight, authorities say, Samantha Keithley, 33, was fatally shot by her husband, Kirk Keithley, a 39-year-old Hillsborough County sheriff’s deputy. He then turned the gun on himself and died by suicide.

“She was an amazing mother and an amazing friend and amazing wife,” Kellin said in an interview with the Tampa Bay Times. “This is horrible.”

Pasco County deputies were called to the home at 17364 Terrazzo Way when a 14-year-old boy ran from the house and alerted 911 after hearing an argument and a gunshot, Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco said at an early morning news conference.

Once deputies arrived, they found the body of a woman, Nocco said. They went upstairs and found three other children safe.Then deputies found the husband in another room, dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to a preliminary investigation.

“Sam was part of our Hard Rock family for over 10 years,” he said. “She was truly loved by all who knew her. Our focus now is to support each other as we mourn this devastating loss. We are broken-hearted.”

Kirk Keithley was hired by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office in 2009 and worked as a patrol deputy in the northeast area of the county. He had prior experience at the St. Petersburg Police Department.

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Fort Rucker lost 2 members suspected murder-suicide

Guardsman kills wife, man, then himself, authorities say
FOX News
Dom Calicchio
May 11, 2018

A National Guard member entered a Florida hotel room last weekend and fatally shot his estranged wife and another man before turning the gun on himself, authorities said.

Mark and Amanda Stokes are seen in an image from Mark Stokes' Facebook page. (Facebook)

Police identified the gunman as Mark Stokes, 37, a major in the Army National Guard who was stationed at Fort Rucker in Enterprise, Ala.

His wife was identified as Amanda Stokes, 28, a sergeant in the Army National Guard, also at Fort Rucker.

The other man was identified as Kenneth Walker Krause, 30, formerly of Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
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Vietnam Veteran and Wife Died Suspected Murder-Suicide

Police say Kingston couple died in murder-suicide
Ottawa Citizen
Ian MacAlpine
Kingston Whig-Standard
December 6, 2017

An elderly couple shot to death in Kingston’s west end have been identified as a 76-year-old Vietnam War veteran and his 78-year-old wife.

Kingston Police vehicles block access to Graceland Avenue in Kingston, Ont. on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017. Police were called to the area after reports of a man with a gun inside. When police entered they found an elderly woman dead and the elderly man with critical injuries. ELLIOT FERGUSON / ELLIOT FERGUSON/WHIG-STANDARD

On Tuesday morning, Kingston Police received a 911 call from a distraught man who said he had a handgun. Shortly after receiving the call, patrol officers and emergency response team members entered the home on Graceland Avenue to find Steven and Glenda Spetz upstairs with gunshot wounds.

Glenda Spetz was pronounced dead at the scene. Her husband was taken to hospital, where he later died.

Kingston police said on Wednesday that the man was responsible for his and his wife’s death.

Neighbour Zdenka Ko, who has lived on the corner of Graceland and Lincoln Drive for the past 24 years, said on Wednesday she knew the couple as friendly but private.

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Nova Scotia Abandoned PTSD Veteran--Family Paid Price With Gunshots

I struggled with the headline I used. There is no other way to put it. Governments, like the US, send them to fight battles yet do not seem interested enough in making sure they are properly taken care of afterwards. Now a veteran is gone. His family is gone. As you will read, he tried to get help that should have been ready and waiting for him. Much like weapons, uniforms, supplies and transportation are prepared to welcome them to the war zones. No one welcomed them to the war zone of having to fight for the care they needed because they went.

Veteran, his wife, child and mother found dead in apparent murder-suicide
CBC News
By Elizabeth McMillan, Sherri Borden Colley
Posted: Jan 04, 2017

Lionel Desmond appears to have shot himself, 3 others died of gunshot wounds, RCMP say

Lionel Desmond was part of the India Company, 2nd battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, in Afghanistan in 2007. (Facebook)

A military veteran, his newly graduated nurse wife, their 10-year-old daughter and her grandmother are dead after an apparent murder-suicide that has rocked a rural Nova Scotia community.

CBC News has confirmed the deceased are Lionel Desmond, 33, his wife, Shanna Desmond, 31, their 10-year-old daughter, Aaliyah, and Brenda Desmond, 52, who was Lionel's mother.

Nova Scotia RCMP said Lionel Desmond appeared to have shot himself, and the three others died of apparent gunshot wounds. Police said they found two guns in the house and are continuing to search the area.

Police were called to the house in northeastern Nova Scotia, about 29 kilometres north of Guysborough, shortly after 6 p.m. AT. Insp. Lynn Young, officer in charge of the Nova Scotia RCMP major crimes unit, told reporters two people found the bodies and called 911.

"This is incredibly tragic for everyone involved," she said.

Shanna Desmond's aunt, Catherine Hartling, said she went to the home in Upper Big Tracadie on Tuesday night because she thought Lionel Desmond had taken his own life. She arrived to learn everyone inside was dead.

'No beds available'

Rev. Elaine Walcott, who lives just outside of Halifax and is related to the victims, said Lionel Desmond had recently spent time in a Montreal clinic for post-traumatic stress disorder.

"He's been crying out for help from the mental health system," she said.

Shanna Desmond recently graduated as a registered nurse and was working at St. Martha's Regional Hospital in Antigonish, N.S. — the same hospital where her husband had tried to get treatment within the last week, Walcott said.

"I understand that there were no beds available," Walcott said.

"He suffered in physical ways, he suffered in emotional ways, and spiritual ways," she said of his tours in Afghanistan.
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Infant Left in Car After Parents Murder-Suicide Deaths

Baby found in car after parents' murder-suicide, Virginia police say
FOX News
July 19, 2016

Virginia police said they found a baby Saturday unhurt in the backseat of a car where the infant's parents died in an apparent murder-suicide.

The Accomack County Sheriff's Office reported in a news release that deputies found 20-year-old Elizabeth Madison Ann Jensen of Sanford and 27-year-old Jonan Fabricio Gonzales-Funes of Bloxom both dead from apparent gunshot wounds inside a vehicle on Saturday morning.

Authorities said Gonzales-Funes was a correctional officer who worked for the sheriff's office since September 2015. He reportedly had served as a Marine.
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Lackland Air Force Base Under Lockdown After Suspected Murder-Suicide

UPDATE April 10, 2016

Air Force: Pararescue student shot training squadron commander at Lackland
Air Force Times
Stephen Losey and Oriana Pawlyk
April 10, 2016

The Air Force has identified the two airmen killed in Friday's apparent murder-suicide shooting at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland.

Lt. Col. William A. Schroeder, the commander of the 342nd Training Squadron at the 37th Training Wing at Lackland, and Technical Sgt. Steven D. Bellino, a pararescue student at the 342nd, were found dead by first responders, the 502nd Air Base Wing at Lackland said in a Saturday release.

An Air Force official said that Bellino is believed to be the alleged gunman.
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Air Force tech sergeant kills commander before disciplinary hearing at Lackland Air Force Base
April 8, 2016

SAN ANTONIO — A tech sergeant at Lackland Air Force Base was being escorted to a disciplinary proceeding by a senior non-commissioned officer Friday morning when the tech sergeant opened fire in the commander's office, killing the commander, a source with knowledge of the attack said.

UPDATE
Senior U.S. official: Airman fatally shot his commander, self at Lackland AFB
Shooting happened at Medina Base Annex

2 Men Dead in Shooting at Texas Air Force Base
ABC News
By Emily Shapiro
Apr 8, 2016

Military and law enforcement personnel are seen inside Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, April 8, 2016.

Two men are dead, including a squadron commander, after an active shooting was reported at the Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, a defense official told ABC News.

Joint Base San Antonio, which includes Lackland Air Force Base, described it as a "a real world active shooter situation" and said the base was placed on lockdown this morning. The base later said in a statement the incident was "contained" and that an investigation is underway.
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Scottsdale soldier shoots girlfriend then turns the gun on himself

Exclusive details: Scottsdale soldier shoots girlfriend then turns the gun on himself
NBC 12 News Arizona
Trisha Hendricks, KPNX
March 31, 2016

SCOTTSDALE - A soldier in the Arizona National Guard allegedly shot his girlfriend to death and then turned the gun on himself Wednesday night.

Family of the victim, Katie Marie Johnson, gave 12 News their blessing to release her name. Now, Scottsdale police released the name of the shooter -- 35-year-old Jose Gualberto Rios.

The Arizona Army National Guard confirmed that he was listed as an active staff sergeant.
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Murder suicide investigation grips Utah

Guardsman kills 2 people, self in northern Utah
Associated Press
Annie Knox
Jul. 14, 2014

A Utah Army National Guardsman killed a Utah State University student and one other person early Monday at an apartment near the college before fleeing and fatally shooting himself at another home, police said.

Jared Tolman, 23, sent a series of unanswered text messages to Mackenzie Madden before he kicked down the door of her apartment two blocks from the university shortly after midnight.

He then fired an assault rifle multiple times at Madden and a 25-year-old man, both people he knew, police said.

Madden, 19, was a sociology major at the university in Logan, a city of about 48,000 people 80 miles north of Salt Lake City. Officers responding to 911 calls found her and Johnathon Jacob Sadler dead inside the unit.

The gunman then went to another apartment a few miles away to look for a man he believed was involved with Madden, Lt. Rod Peterson said. However, the man was not home because he was staying with family.

At that point, “Tolman turned the gun on himself,” Peterson said.
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Was "Special Tribunal for Lebanon" tied to murder-suicide at Fort Hood?

Mom back to Fort Hood just before murder-suicide
My San Antonio
BY SIG CHRISTENSON
JANUARY 24, 2014

SAN ANTONIO — Pfc. Carla Santisteban returned to Fort Hood from Afghanistan at 4:24 a.m. Tuesday.

“In Fort Hood!” she wrote on Facebook.

Three hours later, her husband, Rouhad Ahamd Ezzeddine, and their two daughters Leila Rouhad, 9, and Zeinab Rouhad, 4, were dead.

The Army's Criminal Investigation Command said Ezzeddine, a 43-year-old civilian, was believed to have killed the girls.

So far CID isn't saying how that happened or provide details of the circumstances, but authorities say the girls and their father were found dead at 7:15 a.m. Tuesday in a home in Fort Hood's Pershing Park.

The Army late Thursday identified the father as the likely killer in a murder-suicide case.

“This is a terrible tragedy for the mother and families of these children,” said Maj. Gen. Anthony Ierardi, Fort Hood senior commander and commanding general of 1st Cavalry Division. “We are doing everything possible to care for the family in this time of profound grief and loss.”

The CID statement said the incident occurred in the wife's residence. The Army said Santisteban is assigned to a support battalion with the 1st Cavalry Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team.
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Beirut news reported this

BEIRUT: Local media reported Thursday evening that the Lebanese man who is believed to have shot himself and his two daughters dead in the U.S. has a link to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

Rihad Ezzedine, a 43-year-old from the southern town of Kafra, was found dead in his home in Texas’ Fort Hood military base early Tuesday morning along with his two daughters, Layla and Zeinab, 9 and 4 respectively, according to the Associated Press.

Two students shot at University of Maryland

University Of Maryland Shooting: Two Students Dead After Shooting In College Park House
Huffington Post
02/12/13
COLLEGE PARK, Md.
Police say a University of Maryland student shot two housemates, one fatally, in an off-campus residence and then killed himself.

The shooting happened at around 1 a.m. Tuesday in College Park in Prince George's County.
go here for more later

Las Vegas Police Officer Allegedly Shot Family, Burned Home, Killed Self

Hans Walters Murder-Suicide: Las Vegas Police Officer Allegedly Shot Family, Burned Home, Killed Self
The Huffington Post
By Andres Jauregui
Posted: 01/23/2013

Nevada police said that Lt. Hans Walters, a 20-year veteran of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, killed his family and set fire to his home before fatally shooting himself on Jan. 21.

A standoff at Walters' Boulder City, Nev., home occurred Monday, after an unidentified male caller claimed to a 911 dispatcher that he had killed his wife and child, set his house aflame and would "injure any officer that attempted to come to the scene."

Units from multiple departments responded, including a Las Vegas SWAT team. Officers reportedly encountered Walters in front of his house with a handgun. According to CNN, Walters ignored commands from police to drop his weapon and, instead, returned to the burning house.

Authorities believe the off-duty lieutenant shot himself after he entered the house.

The Clark County Coroner's Office confirmed Tuesday that Walter's 46-year-old wife, Kathryn, and 5-year-old son, Maximilian, each died of a gunshot wound to the head.
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Springs murder suspect commits suicide in Utah

Springs murder suspect commits suicide in Utah
July 17, 2012
MATT STEINER
THE GAZETTE

Law enforcement officers in Colorado and Utah are trying to figure out how a local man suspected of killing a 39-year-old Colorado Springs woman ended up dead Tuesday in an airplane at the St. George airport in Utah.

Capt. James Van Fleet of the St. George police department confirmed that Brian Joseph Hedglin was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound in an empty SkyWest plane. Hedglin was a pilot with the airline but was on leave, SkyWest officials confirmed Tuesday.

The aircraft was not in service and no one else was aboard when Hedglin gained unauthorized access to it, officials said.

Hedglin was being sought by Colorado Springs police in connection with the death of Cristina Cornejo, whose body was found Friday in the 1000 block of Cheyenne Villas Point in southwest Colorado Springs.
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Arizona police believe ex-Marine killed 4, himself

Arizona police believe ex-Marine killed 4, himself
Associated Press
Friday, May 4, 2012

Gilbert, Ariz. -- Police said Thursday that they believe a former Marine with ties to neo-Nazi and Minutemen groups shot four people and then killed himself in a suburban Phoenix home.

Gilbert police spokesman Sgt. Bill Balafas said that police believe Jason Todd Ready, 39, was the gunman in Wednesday's shootings in a home in Gilbert.

Ready lived in the home with a woman who was among the dead. In addition to Ready's girlfriend, the dead include the woman's daughter and granddaughter and the daughter's boyfriend, according to media reports.
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Fort Bragg Army physician suspected in murder-suicide

Murder-suicide doc linked to N.C. homicide

New York Daily News

New Jersey doctor who killed colleague and then himself may also be connected to girlfriend’s murder in North Carolina Authorities trying to determine if same gun was used to kill both victims
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Friday, April 13, 2012
VOORHEES, N.J.

The girlfriend of a military doctor who killed a former New Jersey colleague, then himself, was found fatally shot in her apartment in North Carolina, authorities said Thursday. Ballistics tests will determine if the same gun was used in both crimes.

Dr. Giocondo Navek, 39, ambushed Dr. Payman Houshmandpour, 32, in his car outside his home in this Philadelphia suburb as he was leaving for work Wednesday morning. Minutes later, Navek killed himself when police stopped his vehicle just a mile away.

Authorities said the body of Shawna Dianne Givens, 35, was found at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday in her apartment in Fayetteville, N.C., after she failed to show up for work. Givens was believed to have been killed days earlier.

Navek was an Army physician at Womack Army Medical Center at Fort Bragg, according to Shannon Lynch, a spokesperson for the medical center. He worked in the acute minor illness clinic, akin to an urgent care center after hours.
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Iraq War veteran killed sister, 11, then himself but police didn't think he was dangerous

Gilroy police: Iraq War veteran killed sister, 11, then himself

By Julia Prodis Sulek, Lisa Fernandez and Joe Rodriguez Mercury News
Posted: 03/15/2012

A Veterans Affairs spokeswoman in Palo Alto said Gutierrez received treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder in Puget Sound, Wash

A 27-year-old Iraq War veteran who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder killed his 11-year-old sister, before fatally turning a gun on himself, according to Gilroy police, who also feared he may have also killed or seriously wounded their mother.

"It's horrible," said Gilroy police Sgt. Chad Gallacinao. "We have no idea where the mom is."

Gilroy police said they rushed to the Redwood Apartments complex on Kern Avenue on Wednesday night after a report that something there might be wrong. When officers arrived, they found the 11-year-old girl -- Lucero -- dead, with a bullet in her head. They also found the body of her older brother, Abel Gutierrez, who had served with the U.S. Army in Iraq. Police said he may have shot their mother, Martha Gutierrez, 52, before turning the gun on himself.

In the weeks leading up to the violence, neighbors and relatives at the complex reported that Abel Gutierrez was known there for his often troubling, frightening and aberrant behavior toward family and strangers. However, on an emergency call to the family residence Feb. 29, police determined the young military veteran did not seem dangerous.
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Suspected murder-suicide after standoff at San Diego military housing

UPDATE

Navy man, woman found dead at San Diego home

Apparent murder-suicide reported in San Diego military housing
December 21, 2011
4:30 pm

San Diego police are investigating an apparent murder-suicide Wednesday afternoon in an off-base military-housing neighborhood.

A man called police to say he had killed his wife and was holding their child as a hostage. After a SWAT standoff, a toddler was carried from the home in the Serra Mesa neighborhood.

When police went into the home, the bodies of a man and woman were found.
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Veteran of San Jose Police Department Kills Wife, Self

Veteran of SJPD Kills Wife, Self: Police
Motive for murder-suicide remained a mystery Monday.
By Lori Preuitt
Monday, Nov 28, 2011

It's a double tragedy for the San Jose police department. A veteran officer of the force took his own life over the holiday weekend and according to the Gilroy police, he took his wife's life as well.

Gilroy police are handling the murder-suicide case that touches the community of Gilroy and the San Jose Police Department.

The couple was found dead inside their Gilroy home Sunday night. Police said family members called police when they could not get a hold of them.

Inside, officers found the bodies of Christopher and Lynn Shimek. They said Christopher Shimek, first killed his wife and then killed himself with a gun. Police did not disclose how Lynn Shimek, 43, was killed.

Christopher Shimek was a San Jose Police sergeant and had worked in the department since 1995. The Gilroy police chief called the San Jose police chief late Sunday night to give him the news. Department spokesman Jason Dwyer said Sgt. Shimek showed no red flags or signs that he was having any kind of trouble. Dwyer said many officers knew or worked for Shimek and were shocked to hear what he had done. He said staff was being offered counseling.
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Fort Bragg female soldier killed in murder suicide situation

Murder-suicide under investigation in Fayetteville

Authorities on scene of an abduction turned murder-suicide.
By: JONATHAN CARLSON
Published: October 06, 2011

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. --
Fayetteville police are investigating what they say was a domestic-related kidnapping and murder-suicide.

Officers say a 911 call was received at 8:11 a.m Thursday morning, reporting that a woman had been kidnapped from a Fayetteville area home where she was staying.

Officials say the victim was in the military, stationed at Ft. Bragg.

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