Autopsies revealed Wednesday that two bodies found in a home under construction in Lockport this week both died of gunshot wounds, according to the Will County Coroner's office.
The double homicide was one of the southwest suburban city's first murders in years, police said.
Lockport police responded to the 16100 block of Coneflower Dr. just before 6:30 a.m. Tuesday on the report of a person down inside a townhome that is under construction in the new subdivision.
Responding officers found the bodies of two men inside the building, who were pronounced dead on the scene.
A construction foreman made the discovery, police said.
The victims were identified Wednesday morning as two brothers, 37-year-old Marco Ceja Sanchez and 36-year-old David Ceja Sanchez, both of Aurora. They had been working a job as drywall installers before they were found dead.
"This is the onset of a criminal investigation where two men lost their lives," Chief Terry Lemming said.
Marco Sanchez's wife of 10 years, Adriana Mata, said she knew something was wrong when her husband didn't come home from work Monday. In Spanish, she said her husband was "working with his brother, they were together. At about 9 p.m. I received a call from his aunt -- David lived with her -- she was worried for him. She asked if Marco had arrived and said David had not arrived. We began to worry."
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Police classified the deaths as a double homicide, saying that they did not die of natural causes.
Investigators were still surveying the scene and subdivision, called Sagebrook Homes, more than 24 hours later on Wednesday morning.
One woman who spoke to NBC 5 spoke on condition of anonymity said she noticed something unusual the night before the discovery.
“As I was driving out of the neighborhood I noticed there was a car in the driveway, and because the houses aren’t finished yet I thought it was odd,” she said.
Authorities said they believe it was an isolated incident and no one in the community is in danger. Police asked anyone with further information or may have witnessed something that could aid in the ongoing investigation to come forward.
The Lockport Police Department is conducting the death investigation in cooperation with the Will-Grundy Major Crimes Task Force. The Will County State’s Attorney’s Office is expected to release further information pending the results of Wednesday’s autopsies.
