On a Monday morning in Ankeny, Iowa, a welfare check on June 4, 2018, led to a grim discovery at a residence in the Autumn Ridge Mobile Home Park. An employee of the mobile home park had grown concerned for the well-being of the residents at 305 Harvest Park Drive and requested that authorities investigate. Upon entering the home, Ankeny Police officers found the bodies of two individuals in a state of advanced decomposition.
The deceased were later identified as 45-year-old Lonnie
Robert Perry, a male, and 44-year-old Karen Jayne Edsinga. The Polk County Medical Examiner's autopsy determined that both individuals had died from gunshot wounds. Investigators concluded that Edsinga's death was the result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound and her manner of death was ruled a suicide.
The circumstances surrounding Lonnie Perry's death were less clear to investigators. While his cause of death was also a gunshot wound, the medical examiner could not definitively determine if the wound was self-inflicted or if it had been inflicted by Edsinga. As a result, the manner of his death was officially ruled as undetermined. Evidence found at the scene led investigators to believe that the actions of both Perry and Edsinga were consensual.
Due to the conclusion that the deaths were the result of a tragic and consensual event involving only the two individuals, no suspects were ever identified or sought in connection with the case. Consequently, no arrests were made, and the police did not pursue any further criminal investigation into the matter. Law enforcement officials noted that the bodies had likely been in the home for a considerable amount of time before being discovered.
