In the quiet community of Wolf Lodge, Idaho, the morning of May 16, 2005, brought a horrific discovery that would shatter the peace. Brenda Groene, a 40-year-old Caucasian female, was found brutally murdered in her home. She was not the only victim of the heinous crime. Alongside her were the bodies of her boyfriend, Mark McKenzie, 37, and her 13-year-old son, Slade Groene.
All three had been bound and bludgeoned to death in a vicious attack.
The scene that greeted law enforcement was one of unimaginable violence. Brenda, Mark, and Slade had been killed by blunt force trauma to the head. The brutality of the murders was a shocking anomaly in the typically peaceful area. As investigators processed the gruesome scene, a terrifying realization dawned: Brenda's two youngest children, nine-year-old Dylan and eight-year-old Shasta, were missing. The discovery of the triple homicide immediately launched a frantic search for the two children, and an Amber Alert was issued, spreading their faces across the nation as law enforcement feared for their safety.
For weeks, the search for Dylan and Shasta and the hunt for the killer gripped the community and the country. The break in the case came nearly seven weeks later, on July 2, 2005. A waitress at a Denny's restaurant in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, recognized young Shasta Groene in the company of a man. Her quick thinking led her to contact the police, who arrived and arrested the man, Joseph Edward Duncan III, a convicted sex offender. Shasta's rescue was a moment of profound relief, but it was tragically accompanied by devastating news. She informed investigators that Duncan had murdered her brother, Dylan, at a remote campsite in Montana.
The investigation that followed Shasta's rescue unraveled the full horror of the crime. Duncan had seen the children playing outside their home and had stalked the family, planning his attack. On the night of the murders, he broke into the Groene home, killed the three adults, and abducted the two youngest children. Duncan later pleaded guilty to the murders of Brenda Groene, Mark McKenzie, and Slade Groene, as well as the kidnapping and murder of Dylan Groene. He received multiple life sentences for his crimes in state court and was sentenced to death in a separate federal trial. He died in federal custody in March 2021.
