A mom was charged Tuesday with murder in connection with the deaths of her two elementary-school-aged children, and a man whom police were seeking for questioning also is believed to have been found dead.
Amber Pasztor, 29, of Kendallville, Ind., was arrested Monday night after a statewide Amber Alert was issued after the abduction of Liliana Hernandez, 7, and Rene Pasztor, 6, at about 6:15 a.m. ET Monday in Fort Wayne. She did not have custody of the children, and police declined to say with whom the children were living or why they were taken.
Elkhart, Ind., police found Liliana and Rene dead at about 5:25 p.m. in the backseat of a vehicle behind police headquarters after Pasztor flagged down an officer leaving the building to tell him that two bodies were in her car, The Elkhart Truth reported.
The mother cooperated with officers as she was handcuffed and didn’t appear to be suffering from any physical injuries, Elkhart Sgt. Chris Snyder said. Elkhart is about 70 miles northwest of Fort Wayne; Kendallville is about 25 miles north of Fort Wayne.
“She wasn’t resistant at all,” Snyder told the newspaper. “She actually approached the officer and stopped and made contact with him.”
Then early Tuesday, officers suspended their search for Frank Macomber, 65, of Fort Wayne at about 1:30 a.m. ET after finding a body in the woods near his home, reported WXIN-TV, Indianapolis. Police would not confirm the identity of the dead man.
Investigators are working to find out more about the circumstances surrounding all of the deaths. Authorities think that Macomber was with Pasztor at some point Monday; an autopsy is planned Tuesday to determine the older man's identity and cause of death, said Capt. Steve Stone of the Allen County Sheriff’s Department.
Pasztor is being held without bond in the Elkhart County Correctional Facility, online records show. She expected to be returned to Allen County.
She is scheduled to appear on Wednesday before an Elkhart County magistrate for a probable cause hearing, the Elkhart County prosecutor's office told The Indianapolis Star.
“Obviously there are quite a few miles between Elkhart County and Allen County, so that’s something that will come out as the investigation moves forward,” Snyder said. “Right now, we don’t know why they ended up in Elkhart; why they left Allen County; what brought them here.”
Contributing: The Associated Press. Follow Holly V. Hays and Vic Ryckaert on Twitter: @hollyvhays and @VicRyc
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