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Mother, son identified in murder-suicide in Marion County

Case not connected to double homicide earlier in week

A man and woman are found dead in a Marion County home. (Daniel Dahm, Copyright 2023 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)

OCALA, Fla. – A man and a woman were found dead Monday night inside a home in Marion County in what authorities have deemed a murder-suicide, identifying the decedents as mother and son, officials said.

The Marion County Sheriff’s Office said deputies made a well-being check at a home on SW 20th Lane in Ocala and found the bodies.

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“The investigation has revealed this incident was a murder-suicide,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

In an update Wednesday, the man was identified as 26-year-old Birch Longfellow Crocker and the woman was identified as 57-year-old Kathleen Callahan, who was further described as Crocker’s mother. Upon deputies’ arrival to the home, the two could be seen through a window lying near a pool a blood. A firearm was observed beside Crocker and a sweep of the home turned up a folding table near the entrance containing unpaid bills, a note from each decedent and their driver’s licenses, deputies said.

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Earlier in the week, officials posted on Facebook that the deaths were not connected to a recent double homicide.

Late Sunday morning, deputies were called to a home near the intersection of Southeast 28th Street and Southeast 52nd Avenue in Whispering Sands near Ocala and found a man and woman shot to death. Deputies on Tuesday identified them as 32-year-old Kevin Russell and 60-year-old Sandy Bobman.