ELKHART, Ind., Sept. 27 (UPI) — An Indiana woman is in police custody and detectives are trying to learn exactly what happened in the last 24 hours that caused the deaths of her two young children and a 66-year-old man, authorities said Tuesday.
Amber Susan Pasztor allegedly drove to a police precinct in Elkhart, Ind., on Monday and told officers she had two dead children in the back seat of her vehicle. They were hers — daughter Liliana, 7, and son Rene, 6.
Authorities had been looking for the woman and both children on Monday following a statewide Amber Alert. According to police, the kids were abducted them in Fort Wayne just before 6:30 a.m. CDT Monday.
Pasztor is a resident of Fort Wayne, 70 miles southeast of Elkhart, police said.
“There’s nothing [police] could find that would link her to the Elkhart area,” Elkhart Police Sgt. Chris Snyder said Tuesday. “It could very well be a possibility that she was just passing through here, so this is where she stopped.”
“When somebody pulls up and says, ‘hey, I have two deceased kids in the backseat,’ that’s a very emotional time,” Snyder added. “Anytime we deal with any scene, it can be troubling. You put on top of that, these are two little kids and a homicide case, it certainly compounds the emotions.”
A medical examiner ruled Tuesday that both children died of asphyxiation, or strangling, and ruled their deaths homicides.
A man officials believe might have accompanied Pasztor when the children disappeared, Frank O. Macomber, was also found dead with a single gunshot wound to his head.
Pasztor is being held in jail without bond. She will appear in court Wednesday and is expected to be charged later this week.
According to records, Pasztor has some criminal history — including cases for domestic battery, invasion of privacy and various traffic violations, including DUI, speeding, operating a vehicle without ever receiving a license and driving while suspended.
