A mother, father and 14-year-old boy were found shot dead Sunday afternoon in their home at 5582 South Beck’s Mill Road, east of Salem.

Dead are Danny G. Newlin, 58, and his son, Austin, 14, of multiple gunshot wounds.

Mother Kelley Kay Newlin, 41, was shot once. 

State Police were hunting for suspect Richard Lee Burton Jr. who had been living at the Newlin’s home. Evidence found at the scene indicated that he was the person involved in the killings. 

Burton was found in Monroe County Indiana Monday morning, dead in the cab of his Dodge Ram truck. A self-inflicted gunshot wound is the preliminary cause of death. 

According to Washington County Coroner Peg Shell, all three in the Newlin family died from gunshot wounds. 

Police came to the home around 4p on Sunday to conduct a welfare check, after a caller from another state contacted police noting that the family might be in danger. 

According to Indiana State Police Sgt. Jerry Goodin, “The caller had been in contact with Burton, and based on that conversation felt the family might be in danger.”

Goodin said that contact was last made with the family at about 8p on Saturday night.

The killing happened sometime over the next 24 hours. 

Police have not released what type of gun was used, whether or not it was the same gun used by the alleged killer to kill himself or where the bodies were found in the home. 

The autopsies were performed in Salem this morning under Shell’s direction.

Goodin said no further information on the incident will be released. 

The autopsies provided positive identifications of the victims and gave detectives preliminary causes of death to all three victims.

According to Indiana State Police Sgt. Jerry Goodin, the locations where the bodies were found in the home will not be released. 

Burton’s autopsy is being performed in Terre Haute, IN and all information from that autopsy will have to be provided by the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department or the Monroe County Coroner’s Office. 

These autopsies are preliminary and will not be official until Toxicology results are completed which typically take up to six weeks. 

The Indiana Department of Transportation has reset the closure of U.S. Highway 31 south of Scottsburg to begin Thursday morning (JUNE 8). 

Work to replace the culvert at Nest Run Creek in Vienna Township of Scott County had been slated to start tomorrow. 

INDOT reopened State Road 56 just east of the Washington County line at 3 p.m. this afternoon.

The state’s contractor completed installation of a small structure at Weddle Creek as part of this $1,032,400 2-structure project.  Milestone is the contractor.  

The U.S. 31 culvert at Nest Run is located 0.61 miles north of S.R. 356.  It will be a 3-sided precast reinforced concrete box culvert with 24-foot span and 40 feet of clear roadway side-to-side. 

Motorists will be detoured via S.R. 356, S.R. 3 and S.R. 56 during the 30-day closure

Holiday World’s Splashin’ Safari has been named the best water park in the nation by USA Today and was named Number 4 in the Top 10 amusement parks in the US. 

The water park took top honors out of the 20 nominated for America’s “10 Best” Outdoor Water Parks.

See the full Top 10 list in the best Outdoor Water Parks category below:

1. Splashin’ Safari in Santa Claus
2. Lost Island Waterpark in Waterloo, Iowa
3. Hurricane Harbor in Atlanta
4. Carolina Harbor in Charlotte in North Carolina
5. Noah’s Ark in Wisconsin Dells in Wisconsin
6. Schlitterbahn, New Braunfels in Texas
7. Water World in Denver
8. Dollywood’s Splash Country in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee
9. Knott’s Soak City in Buena Park, California
10. Legoland Florida Water Park in Winter Haven, Florida

USA Today describes Splashin’ Safari’s Mammoth water coaster as a “not-to-miss thrill.”

The Guinness Book of World Records has also named Mammoth the “World’s Longest Water Coaster.”

Holiday World also took the number 4 spot in a second U.S. Today Reader’s Choice Poll which named the top 10 best amusement parks.

See the top 10 winners in the Best Amusement Park category below:

1. Cedar Point – Sandusky, Ohio
2. Six Flags Magic Mountain – Valencia, Calif.
3. Dollywood – Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
4. Holiday World – Santa Claus, Ind.
5. Busch Gardens Williamsburg – Williamsburg, Va.
6. Hersheypark – Hershey, Penn.
7. Magic Kingdom Park – Orlando
8. Sesame Place – Langhorne, Penn.
9. Knott’s Berry Farm – Buena Park, Calif
10. Disneyland Park – Anaheim, Calif.

Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari is open daily.

For more information, visit HolidayWorld.com or call 1-877-463-2645.

The newest member of the Washington County Sheriff’s Department is a world traveler.

Leny is a fifteen-month-old, German Shepherd that was born in Czechoslovakia and brought to the United States where he spent the last three months, training in Becker, Minnesota.

While in Minnesota, Leny received three months of intensive training by Jonathan Portukalian, Owner/Trainer of Artaxias Dog Training of Orleans, Indiana and Stefan Schaub, Owner/Trainer of Staatsmacht Kennel of Becker, Minnesota.

By the way, Leny is the new K-9 member of the Sheriff’s Department, said Sheriff Roger Newlon. 

Leny was trained in obedience, apprehension and narcotic detection and received certification in all three areas.

Leny will continue his training over the next two weeks with trainer Jonathan Portukalian and Leny’s new partner/handler, Sgt. Paul Ginkins.

The two week handler course will give Sgt. Ginkins and Leny a chance to form a bond/working relationship.

After the two week handler course, Sgt. Ginkins and Leny will attend an eight week K-9 school, taught by the Indiana State Police. The eight week course is more in depth and focuses primarily on narcotics detection.

Sheriff Newlon hopes to make Washington County a safer places by utilizing Leny as an investigative tool for local officers, working drug investigations.

Sgt. Ginkins and Leny will soon be on patrol together, working hard to make a difference.

Sheriff Roger Newlon would like to say thank you to everyone who has donated to the Washington County Sheriff’s Department K-9 Program including Terry Ginkins of T.A. Ginkins Company, LLC, of New Albany, for making a $500 donation to the Washington County Sheriff’s Department K-9 Program.

Additionally, Walmart donated a kennel for Leny so he could be kept inside the sheriff’s department instead of staying outside in the squad car with the engine running to provide cool air in the summer time and heat in the winter. 

Indiana Conservation Officers, along with the Dearborn County Sheriff’s Department are conducting an investigation into the recovery of a 5 year-old drowning victim from Lawrenceburg.

 On Saturday June 3, 2017, Dearborn County Dispatch received a report of a missing juvenile at the beach located at Hidden Valley Lake in Dearborn County. The juvenile was later located in the water.  
 
At approximately 09:30 P.M. Dearborn County EMS, along with bystanders, located the missing juvenile in the water. The juvenile was located 60 feet from the shoreline, and in 5 feet of water.
 
The juvenile was immediately transported to the Dearborn County Hospital where she was pronounced dead.
 
Conservation Officers arrived on scene to assist with the investigation.
 
An autopsy was conducted on June 4^th, where the coroner ruled the death as a drowning.
 
An investigation is underway by Indiana Conservation Officers and Dearborn County Sheriff’s Department at this time. No further information is available.
 
The juvenile was not wearing a personal flotation device when she was recovered from the water.
 
Indiana Conservation Officer, Dearborn County Sheriff’s Department, Bright EMS, Indiana State Police, Hidden Valley Deputies, along with other fire and police departments responded to the incident.
 
Indiana Conservation Officers strongly encourage citizens to use extreme caution when around waterways and the use of Personal Flotation Devices. Officers encourage individuals to participate in water activities in the company of others.

Indiana residents do not need a fishing license or trout/salmon stamp to fish in Indiana’s public waters this weekend. Many fun fishing events are taking place across the state.

With more than 200 fish species in Indiana waters, anglers sometimes catch fish they can’t immediately identify.

A new online tool through the DNR Division of Fish & Wildlife can help. The Fish Identification Form allows the public to submit photos and information directly to fisheries biologists for free help with identification.

The form can be found, here.

The new tool will not only serve anglers but also benefit science. Information collected from the forms will help biologists track rare species and identify locations of invasive species.

“After several years of getting photos through email or social media, I thought it would be best to have a place where people could submit them directly to a biologist,” said Brant Fisher, DNR nongame aquatic biologist.

When submitting photos, include:
1. A picture of the entire fish with something in it to reference size (ruler, coin, hand).
2. Close-ups of unique features of the fish.

Email photos to fishid@dnr.IN.gov in medium-size .jpeg file format. Videos should be .mp4, .wmv or .mov and less than 10 MB in size.

Information collected on the Fish Identification Form includes length, weight, distinguishing characteristics, location and date of catch, and observer information.