Chicago Area Local News

CHICAGO (CBS) ― Who killed an elderly Indiana couple and why? Those were the big questions for police in Hammond, Ind., and Cook County on Wednesday as they investigate the murders the parents of a Chicago television host.

Hammond police have been focusing their investigation on the couple's home. WBBM Newsradio 780 reported that blood was found inside the home of Milton and Ruby McClendon. The couple was found dead in a Cook County forest preserve on Monday.

CLTV talk show host Garrard McClendon stopped by his parents' home Wednesday so family members could lower the flag flying out front to half staff.

McClendon, who hosts "Garrard McClendon Live" six days a week on CLTV, was too distraught to talk on camera, but briefly greeted the media before heading inside. Earlier, Hammond police spent hours inside the home, trying to figure who killed his parents.

Milton and Ruby McClendon, 78 and 76, respectively, were both shot to death, Tuesday autopsies determined. Both deaths have been ruled homicides.

The family issued a statement on Wednesday:

"The McClendon Family wishes to express its appreciation for the outpouring of love we have received from well wishers all over Chicagoland and the United States. We are saddened by the loss of our loved ones, but we know there is comfort on the horizon. We accept your sympathy and we thank you for your love and kindness."

For friends it was still hard to fathom. Many who gathered out in front of the Field Street home described what happened as unbelievable.

But the harsh reality is that the McClendon's were found shot to death Monday in the Cook County Forest Preserve's Wentworth Woods in Calumet City.

Their bodies had been apparently transported 18 miles to the wooded area and dumped.

Hammond Police Lt. Richard Hoyda said it is unclear how the couple got to the forest preserve, and he wouldn't comment on whether there were any signs of a break-in at the home.

But Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott told WBBM Newsradio 780 that when police arrived at the home, they knew something was wrong.

"I believe the front door was unlocked and when there was no alarm," McDermott said. "We were all fearing the worst."

Relatives and friends were devastated by their loss.

"This is an amazing tragedy because of the fact the McClendons were a couple that were born in this area," said family friend Jeff Morrow. This community has lost two anchors and it has lost two historians about the city. They could tell you everything about Hammond."

Longtime friend and neighbor James Harper said that the McClendon's built the house themselves.

"They were unbelievably nice people. You just don't find people like that nowadays," Harper said.

An important clue to finding the McClendons' killer came Wednesday morning when the couple's Cadillac was found abandoned on the northbound shoulder of the Dan Ryan Expressway near the Garfield exit.

A tipster told police she saw two people running from the vehicle in the pre-dawn hours. As of 4 p.m., no arrests had been made.

State Police were not inundated with calls reporting pedestrians on the expressway -- which often happens in bona fide cases -- and there is no definite connection between the two men and the vehicle found in the shoulder of the express lanes, Illinois State Police District Chicago Trooper Ivan Bukaczyk said. As a result, State Police did not establish a perimeter or initiate an extensive search.

Theresa McCoy-Thomas said she's known the family for years. She stopped by the home Wednesday to leave a card.

"It's definitely somebody who doesn't have a heart," she said. "If they loved anybody, they could never have done that to these beautiful people. "

James Jackson has known Garrard McClendon since they played Little League baseball together.

"I talked to him last night for a minute and he said 'As soon as I look at you, I think about baseball,'" Jackson said.

But Jackson said he knows that what McClendon is really thinking about now is getting justice for his late parents.

"They were icons here. They were Hammond. They would give you the shirts off their backs," Jackson said.

A reward of $3,000 is being offered in the case.

CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli, CBS 2's Don Schwenneker, CBS 2's Pamela Jones, WBBM Newsradio 780's Steve Miller and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.

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

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