Sheriff Bucky Rowland identifies the mother and four children killed in a murder suicide in Maury County.
George Walker IV, The Tennessean
COLUMBIA
— Authorities on Tuesday released the identities of a stay-at-home mom
and her four children who were found dead in an apparent murder-suicide
this week inside their Columbia home.
Maury
County Sheriff Bucky Rowland identified the woman as 55-year-old
Cynthia Collier and her four children as 14-year-old Bo Li, 14-year-old
Meigan Lin, 15-year-old Lia Lin and 17-year-old Kaileigh Lin.
Rowland said evidence indicated Collier's wound was self-inflicted.
All
five family members were found about 6 p.m. Monday by an older brother
who also lived in the home in the 1000 block of Carters Creek Pike in
Columbia. The brother, who is not a suspect, dialed 911 to report the
deaths.
Their bodies were in multiple areas of the home, investigators said, and two firearms were recovered from the scene.
Investigators were still trying to determine a motive Tuesday afternoon.
"There
was some information that was left, it was very brief and vague, that
would indicate that it would be murder-suicide," Rowland said.
Home life in Columbia
The children were home-schooled by their mother, Rowland said. There was no record of domestic situations at the family's home.
"This
appears to be a loving home," Rowland said during a press conference in
Columbia Tuesday morning. "It’s an immaculate home and a very loving
family. So a motive would be very important to know what would lead
someone to do this to her loved ones."
Court
documents show Collier married the children's father, Randall Collier,
in 1982. This past spring, Cynthia and Randall Collier were in divorce
proceedings, but by the end of May they had asked for the case to be
dismissed. They were attempting to reconcile, according to court
documents.
Along
with the teens killed Monday, Cynthia and Randall Collier had three
adult children. All seven children gave sworn affidavits in the divorce
filings, stating that their parents had been unofficially separated
since at least 2007 and that Randall Collier had not lived on the same
property as the family since 2009.
Cynthia Collier and the teenage children moved to Columbia from Franklin within the past couple years, court documents show.
In
statements included in the divorce filing, the teenage children asked
to continue living with their mother, saying they barely knew their
father. The couple’s three adult children indicated they had a strained
relationship with their father, even when they shared a home before the
separation.
On Tuesday the Sheriff's Office continued to investigate what led up to the family's death.
FIVE KILLED IN COLUMBIA: Mother, four children found dead in apparent murder-suicide
Maury County Sheriff Bucky Rowland speaks after four children and
their mother were found dead at a home, Monday, Oct. 15, 2018, in
Columbia, Tenn. The family died in an apparent murder-suicide.
Nashville Tennessean
Mariah
Timms and Elaina Sauber contributed to this reporting. Reach Natalie
Neysa Alund at nalund@tennessean.com and follow her on Twitter
@nataliealund.
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