MADALYN, LOGAN AND PAIGE HAYES - 5, 7 and 10 yo - / Accused: Grandmother; Sandy Ford and Uncle; Andy Ford - Toledo OH

Published: 11/12/2012 - Updated: 11 hours ago
5 found dead in West Toledo house, apparently from carbon monoxide poisoning

The names of the five people -- two adults and three children -- found dead inside a West Toledo home today, apparently of carbon monoxide poisoning, have been released.

Found dead inside a vehicle parked in the home’s garage was Sandy Ford, 54; her son, Andy Ford, 32; Paige Hayes, 10; Logan Hayes, 7, and Madalyn Hayes, 5. The children are Mrs. Ford’s grandchildren and nieces and a nephew of Mr. Ford.

Neighbors said Mrs. Ford lived in home, 5142 Harvest Ln., with her husband, and her son. The children were frequent visitors to the West Toledo home, three neighbors said.

Police and fire crews were called to the residence at 3:17 p.m. by Ms. Ford’s husband, Randy Ford, wanting officers to do a wellness check. Police arrived at 3:26 p.m., about the time fire crews arrived on scene, and forced entry into the garage where they found the five victims.

Police were on scene until a little after 7 p.m.

Toledo police Sgt. Joe Heffernan declined to say how officials determined that the cause of death was carbon monoxide poisoning, but added that the deaths did not appear accidental.

When asked if the suspect died in the incident, the sergeant said that there were no suspects wanted by police at that time.


The house at 5142 Harvest Lane in West Toledo is where 2 adults and 3 children were found dead. THE BLADE/AMY E. VOIGT

Another if I can't have them you can't murder suicide. Just breaks my heart that they could be so selfish. Kill yourselfs but not the little angels. I put both adult names in accused. There's no way that only one was involved.
William

Kids' Mom in Ohio Murder-Suicide Wanted Them Back

By JOHN SEEWER Associated Press

TOLEDO, Ohio November 14, 2012 (AP)


For the past three years, Mandy Hayes had counted on her mother to care night and day for three of her children after another son at home had become too much to handle.

When she decided it was safe to bring all of them back home in recent weeks, her mother snapped, killing her three young grandchildren and herself with the help of her 32-year-old son who also died, police said.

Letters left behind indicate 54-year-old Sandy Ford and her son Andy son carefully planned the murder-suicide by barricading the garage in their Toledo home, nailing plywood over the windows and then running two hoses from the exhaust of his pickup truck into the rear window of a car where all five were found dead, police said.

Police are waiting for autopsy results.

The family disagreement over where the children should live erupted within just the past week, with police and children services workers being asked to intervene. But both said there was never any indication that the dispute would end in tragedy.

Firefighters using a sledgehammer broke down the garage door to find the bodies of 5-year-old Madalyn Hayes, her 6-year-old brother Logan and 10-year-old sister Paige slumped inside a car, along with their grandmother and uncle. Two hoses attached to the exhaust of a pickup truck pumped gas fumes through the car's rear window.

Police said letters inside the house indicated the woman and her son plotted the murder-suicide, beginning by picking up the children from school Monday morning after their mother had dropped them off earlier.

Toledo police Sgt. Joe Heffernan wouldn't say what was in the letters, but it appeared some were written by the children.
"We're trying to figure out all the why's in this," he said.

Authorities were called to the home by the children's frantic grandfather after he discovered the letters and was unable to force open the garage door. Despite the grisly scene, investigators found no signs the children were forced into the car and believe all five died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Until last week, the children had spent the last three years living with their grandparents, Sandy and Randy Ford, and their uncle at a house in a residential neighborhood close to the Michigan state line.

Mandy Hayes had asked her mom for help caring for the three children because a fourth child was becoming disruptive, said children's services representatives and a family friend.

"She was just being protective," said the friend, Cammie Turner.

While the children were living with their grandparents, their parents saw them almost every day and went on outings to parks and the zoo, Turner said.

"Their kids mean everything to them," she said.

But recently Hayes had decided they should all return home, and the children moved back in with their parents last week, upsetting Hayes' mother, Turner said.

"Mandy wasn't taking the kids away from her entirely," she said. "She wanted them home. It wasn't like she was taking them and grandma could never see them again."

Turner said Hayes had confided that her mother was controlling, but she never seemed alarmed by it.

"It doesn't make sense," she said. "I can't imagine. To have your mom...."

Police were at the house last week and children services workers met with both sides of the family, most recently on Saturday, said Dean Sparks, executive director of Lucas County Children Services.

"We only know that there were a lot of allegations back and forth," he said, adding that Sandy Ford was worried about placing her grandchildren back in the home with their 9-year-old brother, who had been disruptive in the past.

Mandy Hayes and her husband also have a baby who was born just less than a year ago.

But the agency had no authority to decide who should keep the children, Sparks said, and the parents had every right to bring them back into their home.

Turner said she never saw any indication of a strained relationship between Hayes and her mother, and they never went to court over the issue of custody.

Family members declined to comment.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/kids-mom-ohio-murder-suicide-wanted-back-17710990


Too upset to comment much just now. Just breaks my heart.
William

November 15, 2012 10:16 AM
Ohio Murder-Suicide Update: Mom says grandmother, uncle not in "right minds" during alleged slayings of 3 children
CBS/AP) TOLEDO, Ohio - An Ohio mother said Wednesday that her mother and brother weren't in their "right minds" when they allegedly killed her three children this week in what police believe was a murder-suicide.

PICTURES: 5 dead in apparent murder-suicide at Ohio home



Police said notes found at a Toledo house indicated that the grandmother and uncle of 5-year-old Madalyn, 7-year-old Logan and 10-year-old Paige Hayes planned to kill themselves and the children by funneling fumes from a pickup truck into a car where their five bodies were found Monday.

The children, their 54-year-old grandmother Sandy Ford, and their 32-year-old uncle Andy Ford, died of carbon monoxide poisoning, a coroner ruled Wednesday.

Mandy Hayes, the children's mother, told CBS affliate WTOL in Toledo that her mom was her best friend and she was close to her brother.

"I don't know what happened," Hayes said. "They weren't in their right minds. That's all I can say. Something snapped, where it just - I don't know. I can't explain it, really."

Hayes' husband, Chris, drew a different conclusion.

"I think she really did not want those kids to ever come home, is what the deal was there," he said of the grandmother in the WTOL interview. "She felt that she was their mother."

Investigators and family friends said the murder-suicide appears to stem from a family disagreement over where the children should live.

The children lived with their grandmother for the past three years when Mandy Hayes asked her mother to care for them after another son at home had behavior problems and was becoming disruptive, according to children services workers. Sandy Ford was angry when the children moved back into their parents' home within the past week, believing the youngsters would be better off with her.

Police were called to intervene twice last week, but they said they saw no signs the children were in danger.

Ford picked up the children from school Monday morning not long after their mother dropped them off, and the grandmother took them back to her home, police said.

Hayes said when the school called to tell her the kids were not there, she called police.

"I figured it was my mom that had snatched them," she said. She kept calling her mom but she never answered.

Chris Hayes said he also knew the grandmother was involved once he learned the children were not at the school.

"I told my wife to keep calling the police, telling them - look, find out what car they're in, if they're going anywhere - get an Amber Alert, something," he said.

Authorities were called to the home by the children's frantic grandfather after he discovered the letters and was unable to force open the garage door.

Firefighters used a sledgehammer to break down the garage door and found the children's bodies slumped inside the car along with their grandmother and uncle. Two hoses attached to the exhaust of a pickup truck pumped gas fumes through the car's rear window.

A funeral for the children is set for Monday in Toledo with visitation scheduled for this weekend

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57550234-504083/ohio-murder-suicide-update-mom-says-grandmother-uncle-not-in-right-minds-during-alleged-slayings-of-3-children/



My heart breaks for the little angels.
William

This is just so sad. Those poor kids.

Food donations needed for funeral of murder-suicide child victims

Posted: 11.16.2012 at 12:53 AM

SYLVANIA -- “No words are going to take their pain away…nobody wants anything like that to happen, so it is heartbreaking,” Joni Meyer-Crothers, extreme couponer, said about the deaths of Paige Hayes, 10, Logan Hayes, 7, and Madalyn Hayes, 5, murdered

Monday, November 12, 2012.

Funeral services for the three children will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday at Olivet Lutheran Church.

Meyer-Crothers was contacted to provide a meal for after the funeral service.

The public can still contribute food, beverages, or utensils. Items needed most are, potluck dishes, canned soda, meat and vegetable trays.

Community members can also volunteer time to clean up afterwards.

If you would like to make a contribution, sign up on PerfectPotluck.com.

Joni Meyer-Crothers said, “As a community, we need to stand together and help however we can.”

http://www.northwestohio.com/news/story.aspx?id=826187#.UKeYa8UkZpg