Family Members Wash Ashore In Wisconsin

Bodies Of Father, 2 Sons Were Weighted Down

Three bodies lashed together with nylon rope that washed ashore over the weekend have been identified as a father and two sons, and police are considering the deaths as homicides.

NBC News said police on Sunday night were not ruling out the possibility of a double-murder/suicide.

NBC News reported that the father has been very depressed and that the family is months behind on their rent.

The bodies of 45-year-old Kevin L. Amde, 3-year-old son Tesla E. Amde and 6-year-old Davinci Amde were found by a resident Saturday on Lake Michigan's Pleasant Prairie beach, Police Chief Brian J. Wagner said.

"We consider these deaths to be very suspicious, and this case is being handled by law enforcement as a homicide," Wagner said Sunday.

The three, from Chicago, were last seen May 6, when the father and younger son picked up the older boy from his school, Wagner said. Veronica Amde, Kevin Amde's wife and the children's mother, reported them missing to Chicago police on May 11.

The Kenosha County Medical Examiner's Office said the amount of time the three were believed to be in the water was consistent with how long they had been missing -- about six weeks.

No official cause of death was released. Wagner said there was no evidence of violent trauma on any of the bodies.

Wagner said they were tied together with nylon rope, either through belt loops, a belt or around one child's waist. Also tied to the bodies were two nylon book bags, each containing personal belongings and two plastic bags filled with sand.

This added 48 pounds of weight, he said.

Kevin Amde was identified by his driver's license and work identification, Pleasant Prairie police Lt. Paul Ratzburg said.

Chicago police Sgt. Stephanie Stuart said Sunday that Amde often took his children on trips without telling his wife. They would visit museums in Chicago, go fishing or come to Wisconsin, where they had extended family in Racine.

"From what we've learned so far, it wasn't unusual for the father to take the children on excursions," Stuart said. "He was very knowledgeable and would travel (by) trains, buses."

Stuart said there was no indication the couple, who had been married five or six years, were having problems, and Wagner said he had no knowledge of Amde having mental health or criminal problems. They had only the two children, Wagner said.

"From every indication that we've gotten so far, he was a very loving father," Stuart said. "He had no enemies."

Wagner would not say whether any suspects had been questioned.

"We're not prepared to rule anything in or out at this point," he said.

Wagner said Veronica Amde did not want to comment.