Four bodies found in SUV in western Wis. cornfield

Authorities are looking for the motive and suspects after finding four people dead in a SUV in a western Wisconsin cornfield.

In a Tuesday afternoon news conference, Dunn County Sheriff Kevin Bygd said authorities believe the bodies had been there for less than 24 hours when a farmer called 911 on Sunday afternoon. Bygd said the SUV had been intentionally driven about 50 yards into a cornfield in the Town of Sheridan.

Earlier Tuesday, the sheriff’s office identified the victims as 30-year-old Nitosha Lee Flug-Presley, 26-year-old Matthew Isiah Pettus, 35-year-old Loyace Foreman III, and 30-year-old Jasmine Christine Sturm. Flug-Presley is from Stillwater, Minn., while the other three victims are from St. Paul.

Preliminary autopsy results show they died from gunshot wounds.

Bygd said two of the victims are siblings and two were in a relationship. He said the victims have no known connections to the local area and said they have no reason to believe the suspect or suspects are from the local area.

"We are confident that this is a place where these victims were randomly brought to," he said.

The area where the bodies were found is just over an hour’s drive from St. Paul. Bygd said they believe the suspect or suspects left the area after abandoning the SUV in the cornfield, and that there is no current danger to the public.

He said the motive is a mystery, and they are investigating all of the victims’ acquaintances.

"We’re looking at everybody and every possibility," he said.

Bygd said as of Tuesday afternoon, there is no indication of organized criminal activity and no indication of drugs as a motive.

To protect the investigation, Bygd said he could not share some facts, such as the name on the vehicle’s registration and where in the vehicle the bodies were found.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is among the agencies assisting in the investigation.