On May 3, 2018, 14-year-old Tyler Nathan Talmage was found dead in his family’s rental home in Grand Forks, North Dakota, alongside his mother, 35-year-old Astra Volk, and his younger siblings, 10-year-old Aiden and 6-year-old Arianna. The children’s elementary school notified authorities, prompting a welfare check that led to the discovery. All four had sustained fatal gunshot wounds and a handgun was recovered at the scene.

Investigators concluded the deaths were a murder-suicide, determining Astra Volk fatally shot her three children and then took her own life. Court records show Volk had primary custody and had been divorced from the children’s father in 2013; the family had recently moved into the rental and Volk had been experiencing financial and medical-bill struggles. Tyler is remembered by his community as a sweet boy who loved nature, especially dinosaurs, and cared for pet guinea pigs.

If anyone knew Tyler or the family and can share information that might shed light on the circumstances leading up to May 3, please come forward.