In Muscatine, Iowa, a community gathered on a football field Tuesday evening to remember a mother and five siblings who were victims of a recent domestic violence tragedy. Muscatine Police Chief Tony Kies identified the deceased as Lisa McFarland, aged 51; Dakota Whitlow, aged 32; Austin Harris, aged 29; Ryle McFarland, aged 20; Mark McFarland, aged 16; and Ryan McFarland Jr., aged 13.
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At the vigil, Johnathan McFarland shared his grief over the loss of his family members and expressed love for his father, whom police believe committed the murders before taking his own life.
Addressing the crowd, Whitlow’s fiancee, Audrey Perdue, spoke about her late partner’s talents and the future plans they had. She expressed her sorrow and the heavy burden of grief for all affected by this immense loss. The lives lost were full of potential that remained unfulfilled.
Police discovered four victims at a Muscatine home. The city, home to approximately 24,000 residents, is located about 50 miles southeast of Cedar Rapids. McFarland himself was later found on a trail and took his own life during a conversation with police. Additionally, two more relatives of McFarland were found dead in separate locations in the city, one in a residence and the other inside a business. Police acknowledged McFarland had a criminal history, yet specifics remain undisclosed.
According to James Alan Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern University, the Iowa incident represents the sixth family mass killing occurrence this year. Fox manages a database of mass killings maintained in partnership with the Associated Press and USA Today. A seventh incident near Buffalo, New York, was added to the list recently. Mass killings are defined as incidents where four or more people are killed within a 24-hour period, excluding the perpetrator.