A Virginia man allegedly “catfished” a teenage girl online before traveling to Riverside, California, and killing her family, according to police.
The murders were discovered on Friday after authorities received a report of a girl “who appeared distressed” while getting into a car with a man, Riverside police said.
As officers responded to that report, they received calls of a fire at a nearby house.
Firefighters and Riverside Police gather outside a burned home in Riverside, Calif., on Nov. 25, 2022, following a house fire. Three bodies were found in the house which police are investigating as a homicide.
Will Lester/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG via AP
Firefighters and Riverside Police gather outside a burned home in Riverside, Calif., on Nov. 25, 2022, following a house fire. Three bodies were found in the house which police are investigating as a homicide.
Will Lester/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG via AP
Police said three family members were found dead in the house from apparent homicides: 69-year-old Mark Winek; his wife, 65-year-old Sharie Winek; and their daughter, 38-year-old Brooke Winek.
The fire appears to have been intentionally set, police said, adding that the causes of death were still pending.
Brooke Winek, 38, is shown in a photo released by the Riverside Police Department. Winek was found inside the house in Riverside, CA, by firefighters as they were extinguishing the fire, and it was determined she was a victim of an apparent homicide alongside her parents.
Riverside Police Department
Sharie Winek, 65, and her husband Mark Winek, 69, are shown in a photo released by the Riverside Police Department. The couple was found inside the house in Riverside, CA, by firefighters as they were extinguishing the fire, and it was determined they were victims of an apparent homicide alongside their daughter.
Riverside Police Department
Authorities said they determined that the teenage girl seen getting into the car lived at that house and the victims killed were her mother and grandparents.
The man getting in the car with the teen was identified as 28-year-old Austin Lee Edwards of Virginia, according to police.
Several hours after the three bodies were found, authorities said they spotted Edwards driving with the teen.
Austin Lee Edwards, the suspect in a triple homicide in Southern California who died in a shootout with police on Nov. 25, 2022, in a photo provided by the Riverside Police Department.
Riverside Police Department via AP
Edwards — who had worked for the Virginia State Police and a local Virginia sheriff’s office — allegedly led deputies on a chase and fired shots at them, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office said. Edwards lost control of his car and drove off the road, pointing a gun at a sheriff’s helicopter, according to the sheriff’s office.
Deputies then fired at Edwards who was declared dead at the scene, the sheriff’s office said.
The teen was rescued and wasn’t hurt, according to police.
Riverside police said they determined Edwards met the teen online through “‘catfishing,’ where someone pretends to be a different person than they actually are.”
After Edwards developed a relationship with the girl online, police said they believe he drove to Riverside, parked in a neighbor’s driveway, went to the girl’s home and killed her family. Edwards then allegedly took the teen and drove away, according to police.
First responders are shown at work at the site of a fire where three homicide victims were found, in Riverside, Calif. on Nov. 26, 2022.
KABC