Couple found dead in Lake Forest cemetery

A husband and wife who believed they could not live apart were found dead about noon Thursday at the Fort Sheridan Cemetery in an apparent murder-suicide, Lake County Forest Preserve Ranger Police said.

John Tannahill, chief of the forest preserve district ranger police, said the unidentified elderly couple each had a suicide note pinned to a sleeve detailing how the woman was extremely sick and the couple didn't want to live without each other.

After pinning the notes to their sleeves, the man produced a handgun, shot his wife, then turned it on himself, Tannahill said.

Officials said they did not know why the couple went to the Fort Sheridan Cemetery.

Lake County Coroner Dr. Richard Keller said the two, who were both in their mid-80s, were pronounced dead at the scene. The woman had been diagnosed with terminal cancer, Keller said.

The note said the woman had been losing weight recently and that her health had been deteriorating, though it did not indicate the type of cancer the woman had been diagnosed with, he said.

"I think often people think they have run out of options, and I would imagine he didn't want to see his wife suffer or outlive her," Keller said. "I guess they decided this was the way they were going to go."

The names of the couple will not be released until family members are notified, he added.

The Lake County Forest Preserve Ranger Police are handling the investigation at this time until officials from the U.S. Army take over.

Tannahill said the U.S. Army still owns the Fort Sheridan Cemetery, but the property is maintained by the Lake County Forest Preserve District along with the rest of the Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve.