The murder/suicide in SW Marion involved a mom and her grown son
Sheriff's officials said Wednesday that the two people found dead inside a southwest Marion County home on Monday were a woman and her grown son.
The victims have been identified as 57-year-old Kathleen Mary Callahan and her son Birch Longfellow Crocker, 26. Deputies said they recovered a firearm near Crocker's body.
Both mother and son were pronounced deceased at 7:54 p.m. Monday, law enforcement officials said. The sheriff's office considers this a case of murder/suicide, but the agency's report doesn't say which party shot first.
This was the second murder/suicide in the county this month. The first case, on Oct. 3 in southeast Ocala, involved an 81-year-old man who shot and killed his 77-year-old wife and then turned the gun on himself.
According to the Family Violence Prevention Workgroup, there were four domestic violence murders in Marion County last year. Monday's murder/suicide by a loved one was the third domestic violence murder so far in 2023.
Deputies said Monday's deaths are not related to the double murder being investigated in the Whispering Sands residential community west of Baseline Road.
Deputy's report
Deputy Ashton N. Welfenberg noted in her report that on Monday Deputy David Santana went to a home in the 16100 block of Southwest 20th Lane, which is outside the city limits of Dunnellon, to conduct a well-being check on two people.
Welfenberg noted that Santana had spoken with Crocker's father, who lives in Connecticut. The man told the deputy he had been unable to reach his son in two weeks, and was unsuccessful in contacting his son's mother.
The man also told the deputy that his son did not call him to speak to his grandmother, which he said was unusual.
Santana arrived at the residence and noticed the front gate was unlocked. The deputy knocked on the front door and no one answered. Looking through the windows, the deputy saw a man and woman inside and there was blood. He also saw a firearm.
Thinking the people were dead, the deputy called for assistance. When other deputies arrived, they entered the residence and found the two bodies, according to the report.
Deputies found two notes, apparently from the victims; bills; and their driver's licenses on a table.
Last seen alive
One deputy spoke with a neighbor who said he saw Callahan outside riding a bike on Oct. 11.
The murder is the 16th for the county so far this year, which is one more than the 2022 total.
The residence, which appears to be a mobile home, is located on a narrow, bumpy, hardtop dirt road that's surrounded by thick woods.
Case: Foul play ruled out in death of Marion County woman
When a Star-Banner reporter visited the neighborhood on Tuesday, no one was available to comment. The other homes in the community are mobile homes.
Contact Austin L. Miller at 867-4118, austin.miller@starbanner.com or @almillerosb
This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Woman, 57, and her son, 26, died in SW Marion murder/suicide
