A US Navy dentist was found shot to death in Illinois earlier this week in what police are calling a murder-suicide allegedly carried out by her ex-boyfriend.
Officers with the Lake Forest Police Department responded at 6.20am on Wednesday to the 600 block of North Western Avenue after getting reports of shots fired.
A man and a woman were discovered fatally shot in a parking lot behind a Dunkin’ Donuts in downtown Lake Forest.
On Thursday, the Lake County Coroner’s Office identified the man as 33-year-old Ryan Zike and the woman as 27-year-old Claire VanLandingham.
Police in Lake Forest, Illinois, believe naturalist Ryan Zike, 33 (left), shot dead his former girlfriend, Navy dentist Claire VanLandingham, 27 (right) on January 3
Zike was pronounced dead at the scene, while VanLandingham died a short time after the shoot at a hospital.
Preliminary autopsy results indicate that VanLandingham, a US Navy officer and dentist serving at Naval Station Great Lakes, succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds.
Zike, a native of Louisville, Kentucky, and one-time naturalist at the Heller Nature Center, died of a single gunshot wound to the head that was believed to have been self-inflicted.
‘Both families have been notified and our deepest condolences go out to them,’ stated Lake County Coroner Dr. Howard Cooper. ‘This is truly an awful tragedy.’
New life: The 27-year-old attended University of Louisville School of Dentistry and graduated from that institution in 2017
Brief stint: The Park District of Highland Park hired Zike as a naturalist last September, but the 33-year-old resigned a month later
According to the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force, VanLandingham and Zike had been dating but broke up last fall. The motive behind the suspected murder-suicide is under investigation.
According to his Facebook page, Zike graduated from Eastern Kentucky University with a degree in outdoor recreation and park administration.
In September 2017, the Park District of Highland Park hired him as a naturalist, but the 33-year-old resigned a month later, around the time of his split from VanLandingham, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The 27-year-old attended University of Louisville School of Dentistry and graduated from that institution in 2017.
VanLandingham received her Navy commission in December 2013 and later attained the rank of lieutenant in the Navy Dental Corps.