Former Officer Catfished Teen Girl, Murdered Her Grandfather, Grandmother, Mother

A Virginia law enforcement worker who catfished a teen girl and allegedly killed the mother and grandparents of the girl was killed in a shootout in California.

Officers were reportedly called to a house in the La Sierra South neighborhood in Riverside, California, on Friday, Nov. 25 just after 11 a.m. to check on the welfare of a girl who appeared distressed while she was getting into a Red Kia Soul with a man. However, when officers responded to the scene, police began to receive calls about a structural fire just a few houses away from where the welfare call was reported, NBC News reported.

When the Riverside Fire Department arrived at the residence, they found fire on the first floor of the residence. The officers then forcefully entered the residence and found three adult victims lying on the ground.

"Their bodies were pulled outside where it was determined they were victims of an apparent homicide," the Riverside Police Department said.

A preliminary investigation revealed that the girl described in the initial welfare call had lived at the house where the three people were found dead. Authorities managed to identify the man she was seen with as 28-year-old Austin Lee Edwards of North Chesterfield, Virginia.

Edwards had worked for the Virginia State Police and recently worked for the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia. Following this, authorities tracked Edwards' vehicle and found that he was driving with the teen through San Bernardino County in the unincorporated area of Kelso, Los Angeles Times reported.

When deputies with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department caught up with Edwards, the suspect fired gunshots at them. However, during the shooting, he was shot at and pronounced dead at the scene.

Following the shooting, the teen, who was unharmed was placed into protective custody of the Riverside County Department of Public Social Services.

"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," the Riverside Police Department said.

Edwards reportedly developed an online relationship with the teen and obtained her personal information. He then traveled from Virginia to Riverside, where he parked his vehicle in a neighbor's driveway and walked to the teen's home.

He then killed the teen girl's mother, grandfather, and grandmother before walking back to his vehicle with the teen and leaving.

The slain family members were identified as 69-year-old Mark Winek; his wife, 65-year-old Sharie Winek; and their daughter, 38-year-old Brooke Winek. The exact cause and manner of their deaths were still pending.