Murder Suspected in Death of Mother and Daughters at Campground

On Saturday afternoon, a woman and three children were found dead at the Blue Springs Ranch campground in Bourbon, MO. Because the victims, Christine Adewunmi, 37, and her daughters Lauren, 8, Samantha, 6, and Kate, 3, were each shot once and a handgun was found nearby, police suspect the deaths are a case of murder-suicide.

When asked whether he believes the mother shot her children before turning the gun on herself, Crawford County Sheriff Randy Martin said:

“We don’t know for sure, but it kind of appears it could be that way. But again the investigation is still kind of early.”

When the victims were found at the campground, authorities said it looked as though they had been there for hours. On Friday, Christine’s husband, Leonard Adewunmi, reported his wife and daughters missing around 6pm when he returned home from work to find them gone.

People who knew Christine had nothing but positive things to say about the stay-at home mom. Lisa Stemler, a neighbor of the Adwunmi’s, said she was “a very busy mom.”

“Those kids were her life, we all saw her as a very good mom,” she said.

She even saw Christine on Friday afternoon as she pulled out of her driveway. She said she waved to the mom in her yard, who looked pleasant as usual.

“That smile on her face…I have her face plastered in my mind.”

Despite saying the mom was very approachable and easy to talk to, the neighbor said she doesn’t know much about Christine’s husband. “I didn’t know him as well. None of us really saw him a whole lot.”

Authorities have declined to comment on murder-suicide suspicions since finding the victims on Saturday. Hopefully they get to the bottom of this sad case soon.

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.