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Mar 28, 2006 11:00 am US/Central
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Father Denied Bond In Brutal Death Of Girl
Neil Lofquist Charged With Daughter's Death
by Suzanne Le Mignot
CLARENDON HILLS, Ill. (CBS) ―
A bizarre tragedy shook a community in the Western Suburbs after an 8-year-old girl was found murdered inside her own home. Her father, who has been charged in the killing, was denied bond this morning.
A DuPage County judge denied bond for the Claredon Hills man who's accused of strangling, stabbing and trying to drown his eight-year-old daughter.
Prosecutors charged 40-year-old Neil Lofquist yesterday with first-degree murder in the strangling death of his daughter Lauren at their home in the western Chicago suburb on Sunday. They also allege he stabbed her in the neck and tried to drown her in a toilet.
The judge denied Lofquist's bond today. A spokesman for DuPage County prosecutors says Lofquist is in the county jail and is scheduled to appear in court again on April 24th.
CBS 2's Suzanne LeMignot spoke exclusively with the next door neighbor who discovered the body of the young girl and described her father's odd behavior.
The neighbors have known the family for the past three years, describing them as incredibly loving, very friendly and outgoing.
They say the events leading up to the discovery of the young girl's body started with the father showing up at their front door with very odd behavior.
"He was confused. He was disoriented. He had said that we had called him," the neighbor said.
Neil Lofquist's neighbor describes the man's odd behavior Sunday night just hours before the neighbor's wife would find Lofquist's daughter, Lauren, dead. The couple asked CBS 2 not to use their names.
The woman was asked to babysit while Lofquist's wife took him to the hospital. Moments later, the woman received a frantic call from Lauren's mother asking her to search the house for her daughter.
"I went in the bathroom, and I found Lauren on her knees with her head in the commode," she said. "Her body was ice cold, and she had started to turn blue already. I noticed a bruise on her forehead, and she had an injury on her neck that had been bleeding."
Prosecutors say the 8-year-old was strangled. She had also been stabbed in the neck. Lofquist was taken to the DuPage County Jail Monday evening after authorities charged him with first degree murder.
The woman says things Lofquist said at the hospital prompted his wife to call home and have the neighbor check on the child.
"He started making statements about Lauren's death, and I think it was at that point that Lisa wasn't quite sure if he was hallucinating or if something indeed happened," she said.
The neighbor says her heart goes out to Lauren's mother, who must now deal with the aftermath of the tragedy.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)