More details about the police officer who kidnapped a girl from California after murdering her family
The Riverside Police Chief told reporters that the suspect, a police officer from Virginia, presented himself as a 17-year-old boy, and managed to lure the 15-year-old with gifts and compliments
The California police began to reveal more details about the chilling incident that happened in Riverside, when a 28-year-old young man, a police officer from Virginia, murdered three members of the family of a 15-year-old girl – whom he met online.
Austin Lee Edwards, who traveled from Virginia to California to the girl’s home, presented himself on the Internet as a 17-year-old. In their conversations, he asked her for explicit sexual photos and also sent hers, promised gifts such as drugs, alcohol and gift cards, and brought her many compliments.
Riverside Police Chief Larry Gonzalez relayed those details at a news conference Wednesday, noting that investigators are trying to decipher how long the digital connection between Edwards and the girl lasted, and on what platform they used to talk.
Blake Andes, the sheriff of Washington County – where Edwards worked – said that none of his previous employers disclosed that there were any problems with him.
Moreover, Corinne Geller, a police spokeswoman, said that during Edwards’ entire 15 months of service with the agency, he “never exhibited any behaviors to trigger internal administrative or criminal investigations.” Also, during his background checks and psychological tests, there were no “indicators of concern.”
As you may recall, Edwards, a law enforcement officer from southwest Virginia who had just been sworn into a new department, arrived at the 15-year-old’s home, where he murdered her mother and grandparents, set the house on fire – and kidnapped the girl.
Neighbors who saw a fight between the girl and Edwards, called the police and reported a young woman who appeared to be in distress who got into a red Kia Soul with a driver already. A short time later, the hotline received calls about a house fire.
Police, rescue and fire forces arrived at the scene – and firefighters began to treat the scene and found three bodies in the house and immediately determined that it was a murder.
At the same time, the police worked to locate the suspect, and several hours later security forces located Edwards in San Bernardino County, where he was killed during a shootout. The girl was not physically harmed, and she is now in the care of social services.
The three family members who were killed were identified as 69-year-old Mark Wink, a longtime baseball and softball coach at Arlington High School, his wife Sherry Wink, 65, and their daughter Brooke, 38, a single mother of two teenage daughters. They all lived together in the same house in Riverside.
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