Mother, 2 children found stabbed to death in Van Buren Twp. home

Victims connected to driver who was killed in crash on I-94 in Indiana

VAN BUREN TOWNSHIP, Mich. – A mother and her two children have been found stabbed to death in a Van Buren Township home.

Police Captain Gregory Laurain said officers found the victims in a home on Anna Street when they went to the home at about 8:30 a.m. Thursday to notify the family that the victim's husband, Michael Vanderlinden, had been killed in a crash on an Indiana freeway.

When no one answered, police said they went in through an open door and found the 34-year-old mother, Linda, a 4-year-old boy, Matthew, and a 7-year-old boy, Julien - each stabbed in the chest. They were found separately in their bedrooms.

"It is a very tough scene, but it's one of those things we have to investigate and hopefully we're going to get some closure on it," Laurain said.

A weapon was found in the home, police said, but they did not go into details on a description of what it was.

Michigan case connected to deadly Indiana crash

Van Der Linden is being blamed for a fatal crash on I-94 in northern Indiana.

Police near Michigan City say it appears Vanderlinden left a highway rest area going eastbound in the westbound lanes and crashed head-on with another vehicle about 1:30 a.m. Thursday, causing a fire that engulfed both vehicles. Both Vanderlinden and 45-year-old Juan Nelson, of Portage, Ind., were pronouced dead at the scene.

Two westbound lanes of I-94 near Michigan City were closed for several hours after the crash.

Father had history of mental problems

Police said Vanderlinden had a history of depression and had been known to try to commit suicide before. Records show the fire department had been called to the family's home in recent weeks for an incident involving Vanderlinden.

-- Juan Nelson

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