Pregnant mother, toddler found dead in Idaho home: "Devastating"
A 33-year-old woman and her toddler son were found dead in their Idaho home on Wednesday, Idaho police officers said Thursday.
In a statement on Facebook, Shoshone County Sheriff Holly Lindsey said that her office received a report of a death at a home in Wallace, Idaho on May 17. Officers responded to the home just before 8:30 p.m. local time, where they found the bodies of Elizabeth Lawley and her unnamed son, who was just two years old, with gunshot wounds. CBS News affiliate KREM reported that Lawley was "several months pregnant."
According to Lindsey, the preliminary investigation into the "devastating" case "indicates that Lawley likely killed her son and then killed herself."
No motive was provided for Lawley's alleged actions.
KREM reported that the Idaho State Police is assisting the sheriff's office with an investigation into the deaths. The sheriff's office told KREM that they are waiting on more information from the medical examiner's office.
Lindsey said that there would be no further updates about the case.
"As the Sheriff, I'm obligated to share the news with the citizens of Shoshone County, but I can't in good conscience put the family through any more pain by reporting on this incident any further, so this will be our last comment pertaining to this tragedy," she said.
Lindsey said that she had never seen the sheriff's office "so somber" or "so devastated" as they were while they investigated the case.
"Today was an extremely difficult day for the family, for our office, and for this community. And I can only imagine what the family is going through," she said.
She ended the news release with a personal call to residents.
"I may just be sleep deprived, but I can't stop thinking about how precious life is," Lindsey wrote. "Kiss your spouse, hug your children, call your parents and your sibling(s) to check in with them-don't take any of it for granted…not even for a minute. Stay safe out there and take care of each other."