HAGAR SHORE (WKZO-AM) — Police have released the names of the two people they say were killed by a California man who then abducted their two children before driving away in a car stolen from the home in Berrien County’s Hagar Shore, where they had been living.
It’s believed Renee Mitchell, 27, and her father, John Mitchell, 67, were beaten to death. Autopsies are scheduled.
Police say it appears their suspected murderer, 24-year-old Alex Perez, broke into their house by using a ladder to enter a second floor window Wednesday night.
Warrants have been issued, charging Perez with two counts of first-degree murder.
The bodies were discovered by a relative and an Amber Alert was issued for the two children.
It was a deputy in Colorado, checking on a car parked in an unusual spot early Friday with its lights on and the engine running, that resulted in the arrest of Perez and the rescue of his daughters. The deputy checked the Michigan license plate and got a hit.
Perez is being held in a suburb of Denver pending extradition hearings.
– John McNeill
