Austin Lee Edwards, the 28-year-old former Virginia police officer and alleged killer, is suspected of “catfishing” Blandin’s teenage niece — which means he met the girl online and pretended to be someone other than who he was in order to form a romantic relationship with her. He is then believed to have killed Blandin’s parents Mark and Sharie Winek and her sister, Brooke Winek, before leaving Riverside, California with Blandin’s niece. After a neighor spotted a suspicious car and called the police, Edwards was ultimately stopped by and killed in a shootout with sheriff’s deputies. The girl is physically unharmed — and motherless.
