Shrouded in Mystery: 4 Minnesota Residents Found Dead in Abandoned SUV Hidden in Wisconsin Cornfield
Four Minnesota residents were found slain in an abandoned SUV hidden in a western Wisconsin cornfield on Sunday, authorities said.
The Dunn County Sheriff's Office said Tuesday that two women and two men were found shot dead in the black SUV with Minnesota plates that had been driven into the cornfield in Sheridan Township.
The Sheriff's Office noted that preliminary results of autopsies performed by the Ramsey County Medical Examiner's Office Monday showed all victims died of gunshot wounds.
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4 Minnesota Residents Found Dead in Wisconsin Cornfield
Authorities identified the victims as Nitosha Lee Flug-Presley, 30, from Stillwater, Minnesota; Matthew Isiah Pettus, 26, from St. Paul, Minnesota; Loyace Foreman III, 35, from St. Paul; and Jasmine Christine Sturm, 30, also from St. Paul.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Pettus was Sturm's half-brother, while Foreman was Sturm's boyfriend and Flug-Presley was her close friend.
According to Belleville News, a farmer found the SUV and called 911 past 2 p.m. Sunday. The farmer reported that people inside a vehicle were not moving.
"Why would this happen... It just doesn't make sense," Flug-Presley's father, Damone Presley Sr., said.
Presley Sr. also said the four victims were at a bar in St. Paul on Saturday night and got into the vehicle when they left.
Authorities believe that the victims died less than 24 hours from the time they were found.
Dunn County Sheriff Kevin Bygd said Tuesday that the motive remains a mystery and the crime scene was where the victims were randomly brought.
Bygd noted that they could not find any connection between the victims and the cornfield in Sheridan Township other than "possibly randomly driving out of the Twin Cities."
Sheridan Township is located roughly 70 miles outside of St. Paul. Authorities do not think the killings were tied to organized crime. They said there was no evidence that the victims were involved in the drug trade or the murders were motivated by drugs.
The sheriff's office said it is investigating the incident as a possible homicide. Authorities said earlier there might have been a second dark-colored SUV traveling with the vehicle.
Wisconsin Sheriff Says 'Everybody's a Suspect' in Murders of 4 Minnesota Residents
According to Bygd, one or more suspects likely drove the victims from the Twin Cities and ended up in Sheridan at random.
"Everybody's a suspect at this point... We're looking at everybody and every possibility," the sheriff said.
The sheriff's office believes that the community is not in danger at this time as "the suspect or suspects left the area after abandoning the SUV in the cornfield."
However, that confidence is not shared by some residents living nearby. Many commenters on the sheriff's office Facebook page said people are frightened and want more details about the incident.
A netizen noted that this kind of crime does not happen around Sheridan.
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This article is owned by Latin Post
Written by: Joshua Summers
WATCH: Father of One of the Four Found Dead in WI Cornfield Speaks Out - From KARE 11