Dundee family dead in apparent murder-suicide
A Dundee couple and their two children were found shot to death Wednesday in what police said they suspected was a murder-suicide.
Randall Engels, 37, Amy Engels, 35, their son Jackson and daughter Bailey were found shot to death after officers said they forced their way inside the home just before 5 a.m. on July 4.
Autopsies were scheduled for Thursday. But police said they suspect Randall shot his wife and two kids, then turned the gun on himself.
A friend had alerted police after seeing something alarming on social media, according to Newberg-Dundee Police Capt. Jeff Kosmicki.
Police have not released details about that specific message, but KGW did find a comment that was posted on Randall’s Facebook page around 4:30 a.m., Thursday which said, “If she’s gone, I can’t go on.”
The friend requested a welfare check at the home, located near the intersection of 13th and Charles Street, Kosmicki said, and “when the officers arrived, they saw some evidence there had been a crime. That’s what led them to force open the door.”
Amy had filed for divorce on May 29. According to court records obtained by The Associated Press, she had also sought an order to keep Randall away from the kids because she considered him dangerous.
The divorce filing said that Amy had moved to nearby Newberg with the two children five weeks earlier.
A former neighbor of the family told KGW that she had witnessed the couple in heated arguments.
“It’s just very sad. It’s terrible. There were two small children. It was a beautiful family, it’s very heartbreaking,” said former neighbor Rose Stephens.
The family had lived in the town of Dundee for several years, according to Kosmicki.
Among the people who came by the home to pay their respects Thursday was an 11-year-old boy who said he went to school with Jackson.
“Jackson was a good friend, I will always miss him so much, I’ve known him since second grade,” said Trevor Keely. “He lived a good life. God Bless.”
“It breaks my heart to think that people would do this, It’s very sad,” added Gloria Miller, who also knew the family. “I have four children of my own, I could never ever think of doing something like that.”
