Police are investigating the apparent murder-suicide of an elderly McCook couple who were the parents of the police chief of neighboring Lyons, authorities said.
Walter Babich and his wife, Dorothy, both 75, were found dead Sunday afternoon in their tan-brick home in the 4900 block of Riverside Drive in McCook.
McCook police said today that their preliminary investigation shows Walter Babich stabbed his wife multiple times and then took his own life with a shotgun between Friday and Sunday.
Investigators were trying to determine the motive behind the deaths.
A Lyons Police Department dispatcher said Monday that Chief Dan Babich had not issued a statement, adding it was “too soon.” Babich joined the Lyons department in 1982 and has been chief since 2001.
The couple lived about 2 1/2 blocks from the McCook police station, on a quiet street of single-family brick homes. Outdoor lights on the home burned bright Monday, and a collection of small animal figurines adorned the couple’s neatly trimmed yard.
Neighbors Monday said the Babiches were friendly, quiet and had a large family.
One neighbor, who declined to be identified, said the Babiches welcomed her family to the neighborhood when they moved there in April, giving them a silk flower arrangement made by Dorothy Babich. The couple even offered the neighbor’s husband the use of their vehicle one morning this summer when his car wouldn’t start, she said.
Lyons Village President David Visk said that the Babiches were a well-known couple with longtime ties to both Lyons, where they used to live, and McCook.
“It’s just a huge tragedy,” Visk said. “Everybody’s known them for years. It’s just a huge loss for us, for the community, and obviously for the family. We’re completely saddened by this.”
Visk said the Babiches were “community service people,” who volunteered over the years in various local organizations such as the Boy Scouts and Little League baseball. Walter Babich had worked in construction and had been retired for years, he said. Dorothy Babich was popular at local bingo games and known for her craft skills.
The chief came to work Monday, but officials have told him he can take time off, Visk said.
“The chief will have whatever he needs to get through this,” he said.
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arozas@tribune.com
