VILLAGE OF WAUKESHA, Wis. — Following a welfare check turned death investigation in Waukesha, a family in Massachusetts has identified their loved one as the deceased.
Judith Mayer told TMJ4’s Tahleel Mohieldin it was her son 51-year-old Donald Mayer that officers found Friday morning dead his home on Cedar Hill Drive.
“I don’t know how I’m going to live with it,” Judith said through tears. “How do I get up each day and go about a normal day with this heavy in my heart? I just don’t know how.”
The 76-year-old said before learning of the incident she hadn’t heard from her son or his wife for almost two weeks. When they didn’t answer her calls and texts, she wasn’t sure what was going on.
“I thought they were angry with me,” Judith explained. “This was all different and never done before and I was confused and upset, and I didn’t know what to do.”
She said it wasn’t until she got a phone call from a Waukesha school staff member asking why her step-grandson hadn’t been in school that she began to suspect trouble.
She said both she and the school reached out to the local authorities.
“I gave them all the codes to house, and it went from there,” she explained.
That's when Judith realized the reality around her son’s absence was much worse than she imagined.
The Waukesha County Sheriff's Department confirmed Friday that they found at least one person who lived at the home on Cedar Hill Dr. dead.
Judith told Mohieldin that when she spoke with investigators, they told her that Donald wasn’t found alone.
According to Judith, they said that Donald’s wife and their family dog were also found dead in the home and that her step-grandson was missing.
Mohieldin asked Judith if she believed the teen to be a possible suspect or person of interest.
"Maybe a person of interest would be the best thing,” she responded, ‘even just to find him to see if he was ok. What he knows and what's going on.”
Saturday night, WCSD confirmed they discovered two people dead inside the Cedar Hill Dr. home.
They also said a person of interest in custody on separate charges and that investigation is ongoing and remains active.
Neighbors told TMJ4 News that Donald and his family were polite but very private and kept to themselves.
Next-door neighbor Kim Vonckx said she would occasionally see them walking their dog or taking out the trash.
However, she said it had been a couple of weeks since she’d seen them last and initially believed them to be on vacation.
Vonckx said when police started asking questions, searching the area, and putting yellow tape around the property she began to suspect the worst.
“Very scary and crazy,” Vonckx said of the investigation. “We’re just waiting like everyone else to figure out what could have possibly happened in that house.”
"We don’t understand and we’re waiting for more information,” Judith echoed. “We’re confused we’re upset.
While she waits to learn more Judith said she is thankful for the support of her church and her two other children, a daughter she lives with, and a son nearby.
The 76-year-old also shared an autopsy will likely be scheduled on Monday, when the family hopes to find answers.
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