Romeoville, Illinois shooting massacre as family of four are slain at their Chicago area home. Victims identified as Zoraida Bartolomei and husband Alberto Rolon, and their two young sons who had emigrated from Puerto Rico for a better life.
Who killed a young family and why? Authorities have ruled the weekend shooting deaths of a Illinois couple and their two sons along with their three dogs as a massacre as they now seek the whereabouts of a killer.
Zoraida Bartolomei, 32, her husband Alberto Rolon, and their children Adriel, 10, and Diego, seven, were shot in their family bungalow in Chicago on Sunday.
Romeoville Police Department investigators have ruled out a murder-suicide and warned the murderer is still on the loose.
A plea for answers
Their family said they have no idea why anyone would want to kill them, with Zoraida’s sister issuing a plea for answers.
Sharing a photograph of the family on Facebook, Bryana Bartolomei said: ‘I want to know what happened to my nephews, my sister, her husband, and WHY?
‘They were shot and killed in their home.’ The picture shows Zoraida and Alberto beaming with their two sons, one playfully holding a strand of his mother’s hair.
A fundraiser created to cover funeral expenses was created on Monday, describing their children as ‘the sweetest most innocent angels’.
Friends described them as ‘hardworking people that had just bought their first home’.
‘Their kids were the sweetest most innocent angels who could hug your worries away,’ the fundraiser states.
‘In just a few hours their lives, their family’s lives completely changed. The world is going to be a much dimmer place without them.’
Unanswered questions
They pleaded for anyone with information about the gunman to contact police.
Zoraida’s mother Lydia from Puerto Rico told the DailyMail.com that they were ‘so happy’ and had only bought their $250,000 Romeoville home five months ago.
She last spoke with her daughter shortly before her death on the weekend as the family settled down to watch a movie, and she could not understand why they had been targeted.
Romeoville cops found the slain family after they were asked to conduct a welfare check when one of the parents failed to turn up for work at 6am on Sunday.
Officers were confronted by a scene of carnage when they arrived at 8.40pm that evening.
Investigators believe the family were massacred sometime between 9pm Saturday and 5am Sunday.
In search of the American Dream
The family appear to have moved to the US in recent years, possibly from Puerto Rico where Zoraida’s mother is based.
Zoraida was a licensed cosmetologist, while her husband’s age and occupation is unknown.
Romeoville Police Deputy Chief Chris Burne revealed few details at a press conference on Monday citing the ‘sensitivity of the case’ and the need to protect the integrity of the investigation.
But he was confident that none of the dead were responsible and that the gunman left the scene.
‘Due to the time that has gone by, more than 18 hours from the time we were contacted, we are not asking anybody shelter in place,’ he added.
‘We are not actively looking for anyone in the area but we do always ask our residents to have a sense of self–awareness and report anything they might see as suspicious.’
Crime scene technicians removed several brown and pink bags along with part of a window from the three-bedroom home as investigators sought to unearth what led to the family being slain and why and who was responsible.
