On November 25th, 2022, a man named Austin Lee Edwards catfished and killed the grandparents and mother of a 15-year-old girl in Riverside, California. Austin, a former Virginia police officer, was portraying a 17-year-old online and got into contact with the young girl. He traveled from Virginia to Southern California to come into contact with the girl. According to nbcnews.com, Austin parked in the neighbor’s driveway. Then proceeded to go into her house and killed her mother and grandparents. He then set the house on fire, took the young girl, and left.

The Riverside police department received a call of a young teen girl looking distressed while getting into a red Kia Soul with an older man. While responding to that call they received another call about a structural fire just a few houses away.

When police entered the home, they found the bodies of the grandparents and mother. The fire was said to be intentionally set. The young child was told to live in the house where the bodies were found. A few hours after the discovery, Austin Lee Edwards was seen driving around with the girl just a few hours later.

According to ABC News, on November 25, 2022, Edwards led the police in a chase, and shots were fired between them. He eventually lost control of his vehicle driving off the road, he pointed his gun toward the police helicopter. Police then fired at the man and he was declared dead at the scene.

The young girl was rescued and unharmed.

According to ABC News, the family left this statement. The Wineks were loving people who didn’t deserve this”.