In a quiet rural area just outside of Lawrence, Kansas, a tragic story unfolded on a summer day in August 2017, ending the lives of 3-year-old White/Caucasian Mazey Berg and her mother. The events began to come to light on the afternoon of Sunday, August 13th, when law enforcement responded to a report of a shooting. They discovered the body of 36-year-old Erin Berg in the driveway of a residence with which she had no connection; she had been shot multiple times.
The investigation
quickly led authorities to search for Erin's vehicle, which was later found in a parking area of the Baker Wetlands. A short distance from the car, a grim discovery was made: the bodies of young Mazey and her 41-year-old father, Peter Sander. The subsequent investigation by the Douglas County Sheriff's Office concluded that the incident was a double murder-suicide.
Investigators believe that Peter Sander shot and killed Erin Berg before taking their daughter, Mazey, in Erin's vehicle to the Baker Wetlands. There, he killed his daughter before taking his own life. Autopsies confirmed that both Mazey and her father had also died from gunshot wounds. The case was the result of a senseless act of domestic violence.
Erin and Sander had been in a relationship that had ended, and they were the parents of Mazey. Court records indicated that Erin had filed a paternity case naming Sander as the defendant the previous year, although it was later dismissed. Friends and family remembered Erin as a wonderful and vibrant person, and a longtime employee of a local jewelry store. Her mother described her as someone who always wanted to help and fix things, and who saw the good in everyone. Mazey was remembered as an affectionate and loving little girl, whose personality mirrored that of her mother. Because the perpetrator, Peter Sander, died by suicide, there were no arrests to be made in the deaths of Mazey and Erin Berg.
