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4 found slain in SUV abandoned in Wisconsin cornfield, police say

DUNN COUNTY, Wis. — Wisconsin authorities are investigating a quadruple homicide after four Minnesota residents were found fatally shot in an abandoned sport utility vehicle in a rural cornfield on Sunday.

Autopsies are pending, but the Dunn County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that all four victims, two men and two women, died of gunshot wounds, the Belleville News-Democrat reported.

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Dunn County Sheriff Kevin Bygd confirmed to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that the deaths are being investigated as homicides and identified the victims as:

  • Nitosha Lee Flug-Presley, 30, of Stillwater, Minnesota.
  • Matthew Isiah Pettus, 26, of St. Paul, Minnesota.
  • Loyace Foreman III, 35, of St. Paul.
  • Jasmine Christine Sturm, 30, of St. Paul.

According to the sheriff’s office, the bodies were found in a “black SUV that was driven into a standing corn field off of a rural road.” The discovery was made shortly after 2 p.m. Sunday in the Sheridan area, about 80 miles west of Green Bay, officials said in a Facebook post.

“The victims do not appear to have any connection to the area,” the sheriff’s office wrote.

Law enforcement officials confirmed during a Tuesday afternoon news conference that they believe the suspect or suspects in the shootings are not from the area and left the area after abandoning the SUV, which had a Minnesota license plate. Officials also confirmed that a local farmer made the grisly discovery and that the victims had been dead less than 24 hours when they were found.

“Our hearts go out to the family and friends of these victims,” Bygd said Tuesday. “I wish we could release more details, but we have to balance the public’s desire to know the details with running the risk of harming our investigation and losing evidence for building a good homicide case.”