Cindy Clouse and her daughters.Photo: Go Fund Me
A Michigan woman who was killed along with her two young daughters in a murder-suicide over the weekend may have been preparing to leave the partner who committed the crime, authorities said.
On Saturday, police found Cindy Clouse, 35, dead inside her Lee Township, Mich. home along with her daughters, Autumn Hagger, 13, and Mackenzie Hagger, 10.
Clouse’s longterm boyfriend, Roger Kyle Hagger, 34, who was the girls' father, was also deceased at the scene,Fox 17 reports.
All of the deceased died from gunshot wounds, according to the Allegan County Sheriff’s Office.
Clouse had been planning to leave Hagger before the murders, Allegan County Sheriff Frank Baker toldNews Channel 3. “My understanding is she reached out to a co-worker or friend to advise them she was looking to leave the relationship and to get her and the children out,” he said.
Baker said there were signs that Clouse was packing up to leave immediately before the shootings. “That may have been what sparked this tragic event,” Baker said, per News Channel 13.
Clouse’s sister Amytold theDetroit Newsthat Hagger was “controlling,” but that no one thought he’d commit such an act. “We never expected him to be capable of hurting [Clouse] or the girls. … There was a side to him we didn’t know. If we did know, we would have helped her leave,” she said.
Amy told the outlet that Clouse had worked at a nursing home and owned chickens, two goats, a pig and dogs, per theDetroit News. She remembered Autumn Hagger as “a goofball that loved with her whole heart” and wanted to be a dermatologist, while Mackenzie Hagger reportedly loved babies, sunflowers and makeup.
Autumn was in eighth grade and Mackenzie was in fourth grade, Fennville Public Schools Superintendent Jim Greydanus told News Channel 13, noting that staff described the kids as “kind, responsible, friendly, smiling, always doing the right thing, and truly remarkable students.”
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Grief counseling is currently being offered at Fennville Public Schools to help students and community members cope with the loss.
PEOPLE reached out to the Allegan County Sheriff’s Office, but did not immediately hear back.
Anyone with information about the crime is asked to contact the Allegan County Sheriff’s Office 268-673-0500.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go tothehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
source: people.com
