Officials release cause of death for newlywed couple found in car just days before anniversary
Officials in Illinois have released a cause of death for a newlywed couple found inside their car days before they were supposed to celebrate their wedding anniversary.Police in Harvard, Illinois, said the couple was found when an officer on Oct.6 noticed a parked car with its hazard lights activated.
When the officer looked in the car, he found both individuals dead.The people inside the car were later identified as Rachel Dumovich, 29, and Brandon Dumovich, 30, from Sharon, Wisconsin, a spokesman for the McHenry County Coroner’s Office told Fox News Digital.The spokesman for the coroner’s office told Fox News Digital that preliminary findings show both Rachel and Brandon had died from gunshot wounds to the head.Harvard Police Chief Tyson Bauman previously told Fox News Digital that an investigation is ongoing, adding: “While a murder-suicide is a potential scenario, no final determination has been made.”Full results from an autopsy conducted by the coroner’s office haven’t yet been released.Police initially said both people had gunshot wounds, adding a gun was found inside the car.
The McHenry County Major Investigative Assistance Team was activated for the incident.While police told nearby residents to shelter in place after finding the dead couple, it was “later determined there was no ongoing threat to the community.”A wedding page on The Knot made by Rachel described the couple as “middle school sweethearts.”Rachel described that she met Brandon in middle school when she was 12 years old and caught his attention by “stealing cologne from his locker and running away with it.”The two stayed in “touch through many life stages and 15 years of friendship,” Rachel wrote, sharing that they began dating in 2022.Brandon proposed in the summer of 2023 at Big Cedar Lake near Slinger, Wisconsin, where the pair got married on Oct.12, 2024.“We can’t wait to share the next chapter of our love story surrounded by our friends and fami...