Oklahoma Mom, 4 Kids Murdered

(El Reno, Oklahoma) A 25-year-old local mother, Summer Garas, and her four young children were found dead in their apartment Monday afternoon.

An officer went to the apartment to check on the welfare of the occupants and found the five bodies shortly after 4 p.m. Monday, said Jessica Brown, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. The children ranged in age from 3 to 7.

Brown said in an afternoon news conference that the victims were not shot or stabbed, but declined to say how they were killed pending work by the state Medical Examiner's office. Cherokee Ballard, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner, would confirm only that the deaths were homicides.

Arrest warrants for the murders were issued for 25-year-old Joshua Steven Durcho of El Reno, the slain woman's boyfriend.

Last night, Texas Department of Public Safety officers apprehended Durcho after a one-car crash on State Highway 36 outside Hamilton, Texas.

A check of Durcho's identification showed that he was wanted in Oklahoma for murder. After being treated for minor injuries, Durcho was taken to the Hamilton County Jail where he awaits extradition back to Oklahoma.

Not to be gruesome, but I'm very curious about how the family was killed. If not shot or stabbed, what remains? It's also quite unusual for someone to kill four young children plus the mother. I have to speculate that drug use of some nature is involved.

Condolences to the family and friends of Summer Garas, 25, her daughters Kirsten Rust, 7; Autumn Rust, 6; and Evynn Garas, 3; and a son, Teagin Rust, 4.