Authorities have identified four bodies discovered Saturday afternoon on the edge of a campground in Bourbon, Mo., as a Ballwin woman and her three daughters.
Christine Adewunmi, 37, and her three children -- Lauren, 8, Samantha, 6, and Kate, 3 -- died of gunshot wounds, the Crawford County Sheriff's Department said Sunday. Adewunmi's husband, Leonard Adewunmi, reported them missing about 6 p.m. Friday from their home on Arbor Bluff Circle.
Authorities had initially reported Saturday that the deaths appeared to be a murder-suicide, but they would not comment Sunday.
The bodies were discovered about 1 p.m. on the edge of the Blue Springs Ranch campground, which provides camping, horseback riding and float trips on the Meramec River. A woman who answered the phone at the campground said the Adewunmis were not staying at the campground.
Christine Adewunmi graduated from Kirkwood High School with the maiden name of Pannett. Her daughters attended Oak Brook Elementary in the Parkway School District.
A neighbor, Lisa Stemler, 46, built a home in the Ballwin subdivision at the same time the Adewunmis did about 11 years ago. Stemler said Christine Adewunmi was a stay-at-home mom who was always playing outside with her children or driving them to various sports practices and Girl Scouts. She described her as easy to talk to and approachable.
"She was a very busy mom. Those kids were her life," Stemler said. "We all saw her as a very good mom."
Stemler said she can't believe how they were killed. Lauren Adewunmi just delivered Girl Scout cookies to her home a week ago, she said.
"I'm still shocked. Everybody is shocked," she said.
Stemler said she might have been one of the last people to see Christine Adewunmi early Friday afternoon. Stemler was pulling away in her car, and Adewunmi was in her yard. They waved.
"That smile on her face ...," Stemler said. "I have her face plastered in my mind."
Stemler said Leonard Adewunmi was often gone. "I didn't know him as well," she said. "None of us really saw him a whole lot."
Jeff Melching, 37, who moved into the subdivision a week ago, said he chatted with the couple for 10 to 15 minutes. "It's pretty unbelievable," he said. "I don't know what else to say."
Leonard Adewunmi, 42, is listed on the business networking website LinkedIn as a managing partner of CRI Commercial Properties, described as owning and managing several apartment and commercial units in the St. Louis area. Phone calls to him were not returned.
Copyright 2012 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
