Chicago Area Local News

BEASON, Ill. (CBS) ― Dillen Constant was popular with the girls as he rode his bike through town, a little mouthy but respectful. Older sister Justina Constant was quiet and enjoyed the Bible stories she heard from her new church friends.

Eleven-year-old Austin Gee was a homebody but liked attending services with his sister.

Now the three children who lived in this tiny community, where no one locks his door, have been brutally slain along with their parents in a ranch-style home at the edge of town.

Authorities discovered the bodies Monday afternoon after responding to a 911 call about possible shots fired at the address, Logan County Sheriff Steven Nichols said at a news conference.

Police made no immediate arrests and told residents to lock their doors and windows.

"Until we find this person, we would consider this person armed and dangerous," Nichols said.

"Now I have my 9 mm loaded, cocked and ready to fire if someone breaks into my house," said Dale Day, a single father of two young girls who lives a few blocks from where the bodies were found.

A 3-year-old girl survived the attack and was taken to a hospital in Peoria, he said. The girl's grandmother identified her as Tabitha Gee, daughter of the two adults found dead in the home, Raymond "Rick" Gee, 46, and 39-year-old Ruth Gee.

Found with them were their children, 16-year-old Justina, 14-year-old Dillen, and Austin.

The slayings, which Nichols described as a "brutal homicide against an entire family," occurred at the family's home in Beason, a farming community of a few hundred residents about 140 miles southwest of Chicago.

On Tuesday, several orange cones could be seen outside the home, presumably marking evidence. A window at the home appeared to be broken.

Nichols declined to provide details about the crime scene or the suspected cause of death, but said investigators would begin doing autopsies later Tuesday.

Day's 10- and 11-year-olds were among those with "schoolgirl" crushes on Dillen, and they'd chase him on their bikes. He sometimes used foul language, said Tera Walters, but always respected adults when they corrected him.

"He was that ornery kid we all loved," said Angela Pitts, whose kids played with Dillen and his siblings, and whose invitation Justina and Austin took to join a Bible club last summer before beginning to attend Park Meadows Baptist Church in Lincoln.

"Everyone in the neighborhood's been touched," Pitts said.

Rick Gee hustled for work in construction and as a handyman while his wife, a stay-at-home mom, helped out whenever she could, said Ruth Gee's mother, Francis Constant, who lives in nearby Lincoln.

Natalea Bass, 17, of Armington, met Justina in the Bible club that came to Beason last summer. Justina and Austin attended the weeklong club and began attending Park Meadows.

"She was pretty quiet. She was friendly and always had a smile," Bass said, adding that Justina was good with younger kids and got along well with her brother. "She seemed to really enjoy him and was really encouraging."

Justina and Austin enjoyed the Bible club stories about Adam and Eve, Christ's death and rising, and tales about missionaries; both were in church on Sunday, said Jordan Peck, a church member who helped coordinate the summer club.

Austin didn't get around town as much as his siblings, said Jo Ann Goff, who lives next door to Rick Gee's oldest daughter, about a half-mile down Beason's main street from the Gees. But Goff said Austin often stopped by his stepsister's house to play with his stepsister's daughter.

Goff met Rick Gee about 15 years ago when Gee and his stepfather installed new windows in her home. Rick Gee was pleasant and did good work, she said.

The children congregated each day in front of the post office to catch the school bus.

"All the kids would get off the bus and go into the post office and get candy because Jodie has a candy bowl," Goff said.

Postmaster Jodie Duncan said the children were never a problem.

"They were great kids," she said. "Austin was in the post office every morning in the lobby on the floor doing his homework. He'd say he's more awake in the morning."

Duncan said the community is in shock.

"It doesn't happen in small communities like this," Duncan said.

In Beason Tuesday, residents gathered on porches to talk about the killings, some obviously worried about what had happened and the fact that as of late in the day authorities had not made any arrests.

"Not many people lock their doors here," said Brittney Fillmore, 14, who knew both Justina and Dillen from school. "Something like this isn't what you'd expect especially happening in a small town where everybody knows each other."

A pastor tried to comfort about 70 people who crowded into a small Methodist church, particularly the 30 or so children among them.

"Just think of this family as up in heaven having fun, doing the things that make them happy," the Rev. Dayle Badman told those gathered. "They don't want you to be burdened by fear, they don't want you to be burdened by pain."

Authorities are planning to give another update on Wednesday at 11 a.m.

CBS 2's Anne State, and Associated Press writers John O'Connor, Christopher Wills in Lincoln and Don Babwin in Chicago contributed to this report.

(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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