'Person of interest' identified in Idaho triple sl

[Steff]

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/US/05/18/idaho.amber/index.html

 

Search continues for two missing children

Wednesday, May 18, 2005 Posted: 1100 GMT (1900 HKT)

 

 

Robert Roy Lutner is a "person of interest" in the slayings.

 

(CNN) -- Investigators have identified a "person of interest" in a triple slaying at a home in the quaint Idaho community of Coeur d'Alene and the disappearance of two children from the home, and they've issued a lookout for an Idaho man and two pickup trucks he may be driving.

 

The killings have shocked the community and prompted massive searches for the two missing children, identified as 9-year-old Dylan and 8-year-old Shasta Groene.

 

Kootenai County Sheriff identified the person they want to talk to as Robert Roy Lutner, 33, of Hayden, Idaho. The lookout is for a 1975 Silver Ford pick-up, Idaho license K161057, or a 1990 white Toyota pickup with Idaho license K308811.

 

"Lutner is only a person of interest at this time. He is believed to have been visiting the Groene home on Sunday evening," the sheriff's statement said.

 

Lutner's stepmom, contacted by CNN Radio, said she had not heard from her son since Sunday, which she said was unusual.

 

Authorities said the children's mother, Brenda Groene, and their 13-year-old brother Slade were among those killed in the home. A 37-year-old man identified as Mark McKenzie was also found dead in the home.

 

A sheriff's hot line has been established for any information about the case: 208-446-2292 or 208-446-2293.

 

Search teams using sniffer dogs and cadaver dogs fanned out across the area looking for any possible signs of the children, and a helicopter searched by air. The FBI was assisting in the search, while detectives from the state and Spokane, Washington, were assisting in the processing of the crime scene.

 

Kootenai County Sheriff Rocky Watson said the woman's ex-husband has been ruled out as a suspect, although he would not elaborate. He also said it is clear a triple homicide occurred: "It was not a murder suicide."

 

He said investigators would be processing the crime scene for the next two or three days.

 

Authorities issued an Amber alert earlier in the day for the two missing children, describing Dylan as a 4-foot-tall boy, 60 pounds, with short blonde, crewcut hair and blue eyes; and Shasta as 3-foot-10, 40 pounds, with long auburn-brown hair and hazel green eyes.

 

 

 

For their safe return.