WALDPORT, Ore., Dec. 26 (UPI) -- The Christmas-season murder mystery that shocked a small town on Oregon's scenic Pacific coast deepened Wednesday with the apparent discovery of a missing family's vehicle and media reports that 27-year-old Christian Longo, the father of a missing child, had a criminal past.
Longo, his wife, Mary Jane, and 2-year-old daughter, Madison, have not been seen since last week when the bodies of two of the three Longo children were found in Lint Slough, a waterway leading to the Pacific in the community of Waldport.
The two children were nameless until Monday when Lincoln County authorities identified them as Zachary Longo, 5, and his sister, Sadie Ann Longo, 3. They were found around 150 yards apart near a highway bridge that crosses the water. Although the cause of death has not been released, authorities were treating the deaths as homicides.
The deaths of the two siblings cast a pall over Waldport; many residents of the small town made time on Christmas Eve to hold a memorial service for the unclaimed youngsters.
A multi-agency task force that includes the FBI has been unable to locate the remaining Longo family members, and it is unclear whether they are alive or have met with foul play.
Portland television stations reported Wednesday that the family van had been found in a town near Waldport, however there was no sign of the missing family. Television station KOIN reported that a van belonging to the family had been found abandoned last Wednesday and they were believed to be possibly driving another vehicle -- a dark green Dodge Durango with Michigan license plates.
New details on the case were scheduled to be released Wednesday, however the Detroit Free Press reported that Christian Longo had been placed on probation in October for fraud and writing bad checks in Washtenaw County, Michigan, and that the family had quietly moved out of their Ypsilanti home at about the same time.
Longo appeared to run into trouble shortly after arriving in Oregon and had been charged with theft by Lincoln County authorities in October, KOIN reported. The specifics of the charge were not immediately released.
