3 Adults Found Dead At Racine County Home Identified

RACINE COUNTY, WI — The Racine County Sheriff's Office has identified three adults found dead inside a home Friday in Rochester.

According to the deputies, the deceased adults are Terence Vinz, 65, Debra Meagher, 62, and Matthew Vinz, 30. All three were residents of the home. Debra and Terrence were found in the garage and Matthew was located in the basement of the residence, authorities confirmed.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the Meagher and Vinz families. No further information will be shared on this case at this time," the sheriff's office said in a statement.

Deputies said they responded Friday shortly after 9 a.m. to the 400 block of N. State Street in Rochester to check the welfare of the occupants after receiving a request from a family member who resides out of state.

After arriving on scene, deputies said they entered the home and while actively searching for the occupants, within moments a single gunshot rang out within a close proximity of the searching deputies. For safety reasons, deputies immediately took a tactical position and created a safe perimeter around the home.

Sheriff’s crisis negotiators made multiple attempts to make contact with the occupants verbally, by telephone and social media without success. Additionally, multiple advanced pieces of technology including an interior drone and tactical robots were deployed to establish the wellbeing of the occupant(s), deputies said.

"Tragically, we discovered what appears to be an adult male and adult female deceased and completely concealed in the garage," deputies said Friday. "Both of which appeared to have been deceased for a significant period of time. Additionally, an adult male was found deceased in the basement of this residence with what appears to be a recent self-inflicted gunshot wound."

According to Sheriff Christopher Schmaling, he believes the person responsible for the "senseless tragedy" is Matthew Vinz, whose body was located in the basement. The sheriff said he appears to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.