A relative to one of the victims who is suspect shot and killed himself.
LEWISTON, MI (AP) -- UPDATE: 8:55 - Authorities say a man shot his father-in-law and a woman to death at their Northern Michigan home, then drove 300 miles to Indiana where he shot himself in the head and died.
The Montmorency County sheriff's department identifies the victims as 70-year-old Ronald V. Smith and 82-year-old Jean E. Carpenter. The home is in Lewiston, 90 miles south of the tip of the Lower Peninsula. The suspect is 50-year-old Lewiston resident Louis Tantalo, and the sheriff's department says he was the estranged husband of Smith's daughter. Deputies found Smith and Carpenter on Monday, a day after authorities found Tantalo's body at Chain O'Lakes State Park in Albion, Ind.
ORIGINAL STORY - "Murders, stabbings, babies in dumpsters. I mean, it's unreal, stuff you hear about in the city...not here," said Lewiston resident Erica Herd.
Another shock wave sent across a small Northern Michigan town.
Two elderly people found shot to death inside their home in Montmorency County.
Investigators say the man who killed the couple is a relative of one of the victims.
He was found dead in Indiana where investigators say he killed himself.
The two people who were murdered lived together in Lewiston.
On Monday, police were called to this home behind me in Lewiston where they found a 70-year-old man and an 82-year-old women shot and killed.
"just packing up to come out here and my neighbor called me and said, "hey, guess what happened to the neighbors out here," oh yeah, definitely shocked," said neighbor Steve Hoppe.
Hoppe lives just a couple doors down from this house, still tapered off as a crime scene, on Big Buck Drive in Lewiston, where the elderly pair was found shot to death Monday afternoon. He's just one neighbor who couldn't believe it was true when he heard the news.
"First, we heard it was a murder/suicide, and that was sad, they were older, but it was very sad, but then to think someone came to kill them, that's worse," said neighbor Linda Gidcumb.
The Montmorency County Sheriff's Department tells 7&4 News that a relative to one of the victims is the murder suspect. He's a 50-year-old who lived in Lewiston. He was found with gunshot wounds near Chain O'Lakes State Park near Albion, Indiana. Investigators say he shot himself and later died at an area hospital.
"They were very nice, sweet people, it's a shame. They were an older couple, not married, but together," said neighbor Erica Herd.
I talked with a friend of the couple who didn't want to be on camera. She said that she had dinner with the two on Friday, and believes the murders happened over the weekend. She also said neither him nor her would hurt a fly.
"It scared me to death. I want to lock my doors and make sure my kids are never home alone," said Herd.
"In a small town like this, you wouldn't think something like that would happen. It's a pretty quiet neighborhood around here," said Hoppe.
Autopsies on the two individuals that lived in this house were performed today in Grand Rapids. Police say this case is still under investigation.
The Sheriff tells 7&4 News the names are being withheld until proper notification of family.
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