DARIEN – Police responding to a 911 call from a young woman hiding in a closet early Tuesday discovered her parents and brother shot dead inside their suburban home in an upscale subdivision just west of Chicago.
Investigators with police dogs scoured the snow-covered, tree-lined grounds around the two-story home for clues that might lead them to a suspect in Darien’s first murder in more than a decade, said John Cooper, deputy police chief in the city of about 20,000.
The victims were identified as Jeffrey Kramer, 50, his 48-year-old wife, Lori Kramer, and their 20-year-old son, Michael Kramer.
No suspect in the slayings was in custody as of Tuesday afternoon, and no weapon had been found, Cooper said.
The Kramers’ 25-year-old daughter, Angela, called 911 from inside the closet at around 3 a.m.; a second son, Anthony, 29, was also in the house, as was a 17-year-old woman not related to the Kramers. None of the three was injured, and none was considered a suspect, Cooper said.
Lori Kramer was found on a stairway leading up to the second floor, while her husband and son were found on the first floor, Darien Police Chief Robert Pavelchik Jr. told reporters.
The house appears to have been targeted, and other residents were not in danger, Pavelchik said. He did not elaborate.
Residents were in a state of disbelief that a triple killing could occur in their otherwise serene neighborhood, said Aldo Costabile, who lives half a block from the Kramer home.
“Crime has never been a concern here, which makes this more shocking,” he said.
The elder Kramer owned a towing company, and his wife worked in publishing, said neighbor Daniel Marquez, who described them as a fun-loving couple who held frequent barbecues and enjoyed their reputation as the neighborhood’s No. 1 Chicago Bears fans.
“Nothing could be said but that they were wonderful,” he said. “Jeffrey mowed his lawn with a beer in his hand – a regular guy.”
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