by Ted the dog » Wed May 18, 2005 7:13 pm
<br><br><br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/05/18/idaho.amber/index.html">www.cnn.com/2005/US/05/18...index.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br><br>Police seek 'person of interest,' missing kids<br><br>Three people slain at Idaho home were bound, officials say<br><br><br><br><br>(CNN) -- Three people killed in a triple homicide in Idaho were bound, a police spokesman said Wednesday. Two children, a girl and a boy, are missing in the case. <br><br>Investigators have identified a "person of interest" in the slaying, but the Kootenai County sheriff said authorities have identified no motive for what he called "a very brutal triple homicide."<br><br>Authorities were not prepared to reveal how the victims -- the missing children's mother, their 13-year-old brother and an unrelated man -- were bound, said the sheriff's department spokesman, Capt. Ben Wolfinger.<br><br>He said law authorities have received numerous tips about the slayings, some from "real weird people."<br><br>The killings have shocked the quaint community of Coeur d'Alene and prompted massive searches for the missing children, identified as 9-year-old Dylan and 8-year-old Shasta Groene.<br><br>Authorities issued an Amber Alert for the children earlier in the day, describing Dylan as 4 feet tall and weighing 60 pounds, with crew-cut blond hair and blue eyes; and Shasta as 3 feet 10 inches tall and weighing 40 pounds, with long auburn-brown hair and hazel-green eyes.<br><br>Authorities said the bodies of the children's mother, Brenda Groene, and their brother, Slade, were found in their home Tuesday. The body of the man found with them was identified as that of Mark McKenzie, 37.<br><br>Kootenai County Sheriff Rocky Watson identified the person officials want to talk to as Robert Roy Lutner, 33, of Hayden, Idaho.<br><br>The lookout is for a 1975 Silver Ford pickup, Idaho license K161057, or a 1990 white Toyota pickup with Idaho license K308811.<br><br>"He has been known to visit the family. His vehicle was seen at the residence during the time frame we believe the murders took place," Watson said.<br><br>"Both of those vehicles are registered to him, but the Ford vehicle seen there is what makes him of interest to us."<br><br>Lutner's stepmother told CNN Radio she had not heard from her son since Sunday, which she said was unusual.<br><br>Wolfinger said there was no information yet from the autopsies because they were "going on right now, and we have to wait until they're between autopsies to get the information."<br><br>A sheriff's hot line has been established for any information about the case: 208 446-2292 or 208 446-2293.<br><br>Search teams using dogs fanned out across the area looking for signs of the children. They were assisted by a helicopter. FBI agents also were helping.<br><br>Forensics experts from Spokane, Washington, were helping county investigators review fingerprint evidence and state police were helping process DNA evidence, Wolfinger said.<br><br>Coeur D'Alene School Superintendent Harry Amend said crisis teams went Wednesday to the middle school attended by Slade and the elementary school attended by the missing children.<br><br>"Right now there's a combination of deep emotion ... feeling pain and grief and the shock," Amend said." "It's a brutal murder of one of their classmates and the fear of the unknown."<br><br>Watson said the woman's ex-husband has been ruled out as a suspect, although he would not elaborate.<br><br>He also said it is clear a triple homicide occurred: "It was not a murder-suicide."<br><br>He said investigators would be processing the crime scene for the next two or three days.<br><br>CNN's Betty Anderson and CNN Radio's Ninette Sosa contributed to this report.<br> <p></p><i></i>
