Woman, 34, and two sons, 4 and 7, stabbed to death in their beds by police officers

A mother and her two young sons have been found stabbed to death in their suburban Detroit home by police officers who went there to notify her of her husband's fatal car crash in Indiana.

Michael Van Der Linden, 38, died and killed another motorist when he drove the wrong way down Interstate 94 near Michigan City just after 1.30 a.m. on Thursday.

When police went to his Bellevue, Michigan home to tell his wife Linda, they found her dead body along with those of her two sons, Matthew, four, and Julien, seven, in separate bedrooms.

Police said they are investigating whether the father, who had a history of depression, killed his family before purposefully crashing into oncoming traffic 120 miles from his home.

Killed: Linda Van Der Linden, 34,  was found stabbed dead in her home with her two sons by police who had gone to the house to tell her that her husband Michael (below) had died in a car crash

When officers visited the Van Der Linden home, in an affluent Detroit neighbourhood, they found the front door ajar and, when no one answered, went inside.

The two young boys and mother, 34, were found stabbed in their chests in their beds, police said.

LaPorte County Medical Examiner John Sullivan told WSBT it appears Van Der Linden stabbed his wife and children and then fled, eventually crashing near Michigan City.

 

'They want us to look for a knife in the vehicle, but the vehicle is completely burned up and destroyed,' Sullivan said.

Police Capt. Gregory Laurain added that it was too early to speculate about what had happened, but no suicide notes were found in the home, which is around 25 miles west of Detroit.

'There was no sign of forced entry. No sign of robbery,' he said.

Scene: A coroner's van takes away the three bodies from the Bellevue, Michigan home on Thursday morning. The two boys, aged four and seven, and their mother were all stabbed in their chests

Tragic: Police are investigating if Michael Van Der Linden stabbed his wife and children to death before purposefully driving into oncoming traffic on a highway in Indiana

'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.'

He added that they did find a weapon inside the house, but would not give further details.

Police told WDTV4 that the Van Der Linden, who went by 'Mike', 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 the father, the news site added.

Police have collected computers and voice messaging equipment from the home.

Fatal: Michael Van Buren died on Interstate 94 early on Thursday morning after driving the wrong way and colliding head-on with another vehicle. He also killed the other driver

Van Der Linden left a highway rest stop and drove his Chrysler eastbound in the westbound lanes and crashed head-on with another car, driven by 45-year-old Juan Nelson Jr. from Portage, Indiana.

The crash engulfed both vehicles and both men were pronounced dead at the scene.
Linda Van Der Linden was a stay-at-home mother, while her husband worked in IT for business computer firm Experis, which is based in Portage. He had been with the company nearly three years.

They lived in Anna Drive in Van Buren Township, a quiet, clean subdivision of Tudor- and Colonial-style homes. It is an area of well-kept lawns and outdoor swimming pools.
'It is very, very disturbing that something like this happens in any community and especially in our semi-rural township of Van Buren,' Van Buren Towenship's Supervisor Paul White told WWJ-AM.