VAUGHN FAMILY WAS MURDERED ON A WOODED - CELLTOWER ACCESS ROAD

By  Jane Celltower

Research News Source:

Fox News,  Nancy Grace CNN Transcript

Friday, June 15, 2007, Channahon, III.

Kimberly Vaughn had just finished a criminal justice degree, while husband Christopher Vaughn, 32,  worked as a computer forensic adviser.    Being computer savy was part of Chris Vaughn's job, which logically included finding the location of remote "stealth" cell tower access roads hidden on wooded land.  Cell phone companies advertise the location of these remote "stealth" cell towers online,  for all the world to see.  Little did attractive, blond haired raven wife Kimberly, know when studing for her criminal justice degree, that she and her three children would make national news, ending up dead on a celltower access road. 

The bodies of kimberly Ellen Vaughn, 34, and her three children - Abigayle Elizabeth, 12, Cassandra Ellen, 11, and Blake Philip, 8, were found around 5:25 am Thursday, June 14, 2007, in the family's SUV, parked on a cell tower access service road near Intersate 55 in Channahon after a passer-by called 911, according to athorites.  A police chaplain and counselors were available for police who responded to the scene.  Illinois Satate Police Capt. Carl Dobrich said, "To be blunt, I have kids at home that age, and it affected people there immensely.  It was a very sad scene."  After an intense investigation, Christopher Vaughn was charged with the murders.   An insurance policy pay off, was said to be his motive.

CNN TRANSCRIPT SEGMENT OF THE VAUGHN FAMILY

Please note:

"Celltower access road crime talking points, are noted by me in red."  - Jane Celltower

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us tonight. First, the mystery surrounding a mom and three children found dead in their SUV just feet from an Illinois interstate. What happened?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police have identified the four victims. They are 34-year-old Kimberly Vaughn and her children, 12-year-old Abigayle, 11- year-old Cassandra and 8-year-old Blake. The Will County coroner said Kimberly Vaughn died from a single gunshot wound. Her children were shot multiple times. Their bodies were discovered in an SUV this morning that was parked in a remote area near I-55 near Channahon.

Police say Kimberly`s husband, Christopher Vaughn, had been shot in the thigh. He told a passerby about the incident, and that passerby called police. Police say Christopher Vaughn is not in custody, but he`s still here, being questioned. At this time, we do not know if this is a murder or a murder-suicide, but again, police say Christopher Vaughn is still here, being questioned. They will only say that they are not looking for anyone else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Tonight, no one has been named a suspect and no one has been ruled out, a mom and three children found dead in an SUV just off the Illinois interstate.

Out to Jon Leiberman with "America`s Most Wanted." You want to tell me Dad didn`t have a cell phone?

ANOTHER EXCERT:

GRACE: Back to Trooper Mark Dorencz with the Illinois State Police. Do we know if the mother was driving the SUV?

DORENCZ: The mother was the passenger of the vehicle.

GRACE: She was the passenger. So that means the dad was driving the SUV. That means that he`s the one that went down this trail. What type of a roadway, access highway, is this trail?

DORENCZ: Actually, it is a short access road to a cell tower, which is just off the frontage road of I-55.

GRACE: I`m sorry, repeat?

DORENCZ: It`s an access road to a cellular tower for cell phones, and it`s just off the I-55, on a frontage road.

GRACE: So why would the father be driving the car down an access road to a cell tower, Trooper?

DORENCZ: That is something that`s still being investigated.

GRACE: Interesting. Back out to Jon Leiberman, producer with "America`s Most Wanted." Jon, why was he driving his family down an access road?

LEIBERMAN: Well, that`s the question. That`s the million-dollar question, at this point. You know, did they have an argument, the husband and wife, and then he decided to drive down this access road so they could discuss further? And frankly, why was there a gun in the car with the family anyway, when they were going out for what they`re describing -- what officials are describing as a social outing of some sort with the kids? So did they always keep a gun in the car? And if so, you know, who was the gun registered to? Who often took the gun out on family outings? I mean, there are many questions here, and I know the good investigators in Illinois are going to get to the bottom of it.

GRACE: Jon, where was the gun recovered?

LEIBERMAN: It`s our understanding that the gun was recovered -- we don`t know exactly. We know either in or right around the vehicle, but it was at the crime scene that the gun was recovered.

YET ANOTHER EXCERT:

GRACE: Jon Leiberman, what do we know? If they had a clean bill of health, don`t you imagine the police officer, the trooper joining us tonight, would say, No, no disturbances?

LEIBERMAN: You know, probably -- you know, maybe so. But they are trying to keep it close to the vest because they`re in the very early stages, too. I mean, it hasn`t been very long into the investigation.

But I will point out that the mother in this case had just finished a criminal justice degree, too. Just a little tidbit that they have to look at also, what kind of knowledge did she have? You know, did she study criminology? Did she study forensics? Just one other little tidbit that`s interesting that they have to look at. But they`re going to solve this thing and probably pretty quickly.

ANOTHER EXCERT:

LEIBERMAN: It seems like this was a pretty typical middle class family. I mean, the husband had a -- some sort of computer security business that he owned, it appears. So these are, you know, middle class people living in a suburb 50 miles southwest of Chicago, I believe, and you know, pretty run-of-the-mill family, from what we can tell so far.

GRACE: And Elizabeth, if you could show me the victims in this case again. Take a look at them. Kimberly Ellen Vaughn, just 34, absolutely -- look at that smile, gorgeous, 8-year-old Blake Philip Vaughn, 11-year-old Cassandra Ellen Vaughn, 12-year-old Abby (ph), Abigayle Elizabeth Vaughn, a picture-perfect American family. These four found dead in an SUV just feet off an Illinois interstate, we now learn on an access road going nowhere but a cell tower. Where was dad taking them?

ANOTHER EXCERT:

GRACE: Well, I`ve got another question, Jon. Jon Leiberman joining us from "America`s Most Wanted." A nearby resident claims she heard shots around 10:00 PM -- 10:00 PM. When did the husband finally go out and flag down a motorist, Jon?

LEIBERMAN: Well, that`s a good -- that`s a very interesting point. No one was flagged down, it appears, until about 5:30 in the morning.

GRACE: What the hey?

LEIBERMAN: Police arrived about -- we`re told about 5:50. Here`s another scenario, too. We know that the crime scene is the SUV, but do we know if the SUV was moved after the shooting was done? Was it taken further down that access road, you know, after the crime was committed? We don`t know. Did the shooting happen around 10:00 o`clock at night, when this person thinks they heard gunshots, and then -- you know, then the SUV was moved further down (INAUDIBLE)

GRACE: Right. To Don Clark. What do you make of the time lapse?

CLARK: Well, here`s what I think, is that the time lack doesn`t really -- it really gives me some doubt about what took place in that situation because this supposedly happened at 10:00 o`clock at night, and not until 5:30 in the morning that somebody got their attention, and yet the person was only shot in the leg? This just doesn`t add up to me.