Blake Philip Vaughn was an 8-year-old boy from Channahon Township, Illinois, who was killed on June 14, 2007. Blake, his mother Kimberly Ellen Vaughn, and his two sisters, Abigayle Elizabeth Vaughn, 12, and Cassandra Ellen Vaughn, 11, were found shot to death in the family’s SUV on a service road near Interstate 55 after a passerby called 911 early that morning. Blake was described as a young Caucasian boy who loved reading and had a photographic memory.

Christopher Vaughn, Blake’s father, was at the scene with a gunshot wound to his thigh that he said was self-inflicted; he was treated at a nearby hospital and spoke with investigators for hours. A handgun was recovered at the scene and investigators conducted gunshot residue testing on Kimberly Vaughn’s hands. Authorities later arrested and charged Christopher Vaughn in connection with the deaths. The trial resulted in convictions and a sentence of four consecutive life terms without parole in November 2012.

Did anyone who knew the Vaughn family notice signs in the months before June 2007 that could shed light on what led to this tragedy?