LOS ANGELES — The deaths of three people found Friday in a burning home in Riverside are thought to be connected to the attempted abduction of a teenage girl.
As police were en route to the 11200 block of Price Court for a welfare check on a man and a young woman who were having “some type of disturbance” outside a residence, dispatchers received calls from motorists of smoke pouring from a home in the same block, said Officer Ryan Railsback, a spokesman for the Riverside Police Department.
Firefighters responded and were extinguishing the fire when they discovered the bodies of a man and two women inside the house, Railsback said. The victims were identified as Mark Winek, 69; his wife, Sharie Winek, 65; and their daughter, Brooke Winek, 38.
Investigators have determined that the woman involved in the outdoor disturbance was a teenager who lived in the house, Railsback said. The man she was with — Austin Lee Edwards, 28, of North Chesterfield, Va. — was identified as the main suspect in the three deaths, he said. Edwards was tracked Friday evening to San Bernardino County, where he was fatally shot by sheriff’s deputies in Kelso after firing a gun at officers, law enforcement officials said.
Riverside police detectives determined that Edwards had met the teenage girl online and misrepresented who he was, Railsback said.
“Detectives determined Edwards had met the female teenager through the common form of online deception known as ‘catfishing,’ where someone pretends to be a different person than they actually are,” authorities said in the release. “It is believed Edwards had developed an online relationship with the teen and obtained her personal information. He traveled from Virginia to Riverside where he parked his car in a neighbor’s driveway and walked into the teen’s home.”
The exact cause and manner of the three deaths are under investigation, but police believe Edwards killed the teen’s grandfather, grandmother and mother before taking the teen to his vehicle and driving away, according to officials.
The teen was not harmed.
Edwards was formerly employed by the Virginia State Police and more recently worked for the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia, Railsback said.
Friends and family of the three who died gathered over the weekend to remember their loved ones, according to the Press-Enterprise.
Ron Smith told the Press-Enterprise that Mark Winek was a close friend, and his death — along with his wife’s and daughter’s — came as a shock. Smith said Winek was a beloved figure in Inland Empire high school sports, having coached baseball for many years at different schools, including Corona and Arlington high schools.
“Mark was a man who was huge in the softball and baseball coaching ranks,” Smith said. “You can’t ask for a better friend than Mark.”
Sheri Lazzarini, a friend of Winek’s, told the Press-Enterprise that she met him when he asked to join her softball coaching staff at La Sierra High School in 1994, while his daughters were attending the Riverside school. She said they remained close in the years since.
“He was a man dedicated to helping student-athletes,” Lazzarini said. “I don’t want the legacy to be what’s happened, because he was a really special man.”
A GoFundMe to support the family’s funeral costs called Winek “a loving father, grandfather, uncle, brother, and coach” and Sharie Winek “a sweet and caring mother, grandmother, sister and aunt who cherished spending time with her family.”
The page said Brooke Winek was “a beloved single mother with the biggest heart” who had two daughters.
