For more than 10 days, the search for the suspect in the murders of Spencer and Monique Tepe in their Ohio home with their two young children inside gripped their community and garnered national attention.
Monique Tepe’s ex-husband, identified in court records as Michael David McKee, 39, was arrested Saturday on two counts of murder, an incident report shows.
Spencer Tepe, 37, and Monique Tepe, 39, were found dead with apparent gunshot wounds on December 30 in their luxurious home in Columbus. The couple’s two children, ages 4 and 1, were not physically harmed when they were found inside, police said.
The arrest marks a major development in a case that has been shrouded in mystery as police have been reluctant to provide details about the investigation. Police officers have not yet released any information about a possible motive.
Questions about how the murders unfolded and what motivated the attack only intensified Monday when police released surveillance footage showing “a person of interest” walking in the alley near the couple’s home in the Weinland Park neighborhood.
The video was taken during the period in which investigators believe the respected dentist and his wife, a homemaker, were murdered, police said at the time, but did not explain why they were seeking information about that individual.
McKee is in custody in Winnebago County, Illinois, according to sheriff’s office inmate records. He is scheduled to appear in court Monday, records show, after police said he was taken into custody “without incident” in Rockford, Illinois.
CNN is working to determine if McKee has legal representation.
In the days after the murders, a monument of roses and sunflowers adorned the house where the Tepes had exchanged vows before it became the site of an unspeakable tragedy.
It was just a few days after Christmas, a month before their fifth anniversary.
Authorities found no obvious signs of forced entry or a firearm at the scene, CNN affiliate WSYX previously reported.
Police will release further information “as appropriate” to avoid compromising the “active and ongoing progress of the case” and urged people to contact them with any information relating to the tragedy.
Colleagues at Spencer Tepe’s dental practice, Athens Dental Depot, located about 75 miles southeast of the family’s Columbus home, called 911 after he uncharacteristically failed to show up for work.
He and his wife were always attentive, according to their practice owner, Dr. Mark Valrose, but no one could reach them that morning.
“I don’t know how else to say this, but we are very, very concerned. This is very out of character for him,” Valrose told a dispatcher, according to the 911 call. He asked police to conduct a welfare check and officers responded, but no one answered the door, WSYX reported, citing police records.
Spencer Tepe’s colleagues and a friend arrived at the home about 30 minutes later, when one of them called 911 to report hearing children crying inside the home.
Around 10:30 a.m., a friend of Spencer Tepe looked inside and saw a gruesome scene next to a bed, sounding audibly distraught as he told dispatchers, “There’s… there’s a body,” according to emergency dispatch audio. “We just got here. And he looks dead.”
When asked if Tepe had been sick, the friend replied: “No, no. I was just with him yesterday.”
The couple’s two children and dog are now in the care of relatives, the Tepes’ brother-in-law said.
The Tepes’ deaths are apparent homicides from gunshot wounds, the Franklin County Coroner’s Office told CNN. Official autopsy reports could take weeks to complete.