5 family members found slain in central Illinois

[undeterred]

Source: Associated Press

LINCOLN, Ill. — A couple and three children were found slain in their central Illinois home in what a sheriff described Tuesday as a "brutal homicide," and detectives were trying to identify possible suspects.

Authorities discovered the bodies late Monday afternoon after responding to a 911 call about possible shots fired at the address, Logan County Sheriff Steven Nichols said at a news conference. A 3-year-old girl survived the attack and was taken to a hospital in Peoria, he said.

Nichols declined to say why his office didn't release information about the slayings until Tuesday morning. He said detectives were following leads to try to identify possible suspects, but that authorities could only say that the suspect was considered "armed and dangerous."

Nichols warned area residents to lock their doors at night as a precaution. "We are determined to identify and arrest those responsible," he said. The slayings, which Nichols described as a "brutal homicide against an entire family," occurred at the family's ranch-style home in Beason, a farming community about 140 miles southwest of Chicago.



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