Investigation continues in Scranton deaths
Originally published 02:44 p.m., January 13, 2009
Updated 06:19 p.m., January 14, 2009
The deaths of three children and their father in Scranton are now confirmed to be murder suicide. Monday morning Amy Shirley found the bodies of her three children and husband in her house. On Monday morning the Carbondale school called Amy Shirley at work because her children were not in school. When she couldn't get ahold of anyone at her house, she drove home. There she found the bodies of her husband, Michael Shirley and three children, Ethan, Ashten and Caleb.
After days of speculation, the town of Scranton has some answers.
"Michael Shirley killed his three children and then set the house on fire," said Osage County Sheriff Laurie Dunn.
A few flowers were placed near the Shirley home on Wednesday. Neighbor Alicia Amborski says it's been a rough few days.
"With the fire engines showing up we just thought fire. At that point we just hoped everyone would be OK. Unfortunately that's not the case," said Amborski.
Sheriff Dunn says Shirley killed his three children before trying to kill himself with a shotgun. Dunn says that attempt was unsuccessful, but a fire Shirley set in his living room killed him shortly after. Dunn wouldn't give specifics about how the children died other than to say they did not die from gunshots or the fire.
"I never saw any cause for something like this to happen," Amborski said.
Sheriff Dunn isn't saying why she thinks it happened either.
"We are still continuing the investigations and would ask if anyone has any information that they call us. We still have a lot of interviews to do, we've been at the residence for three days. Those questions are still out there," Dunn said.
For Amborski, knowing what happened helps, but it will take time for the community to heal.
"We just pray that everything happens for a reason and that God has taken these children where they belong," Amborski said.
Carbondale school principal Michael Flax says a memorial service for the children is being lined up for Saturday at the school. The sheriff says she isn't releasing the details of exactly how the children died in case they do find new evidence that points away from the murder suicide theory. She says there are still plenty of lab reports in the works and those could take months to complete.
If you have any information about this crime, the Osage County Sheriff asks you to call Crime Stoppers at 1-877-OS-CRIME.
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