Westerville, OH: FCCS Requests Investigation Before Double Murder-Suicide

UPDATE: A man who fatally shot his two daughters before killing himself was being sought by authorities.
By DONNA WILLIS | Web Content Coordinator
Published: December 4, 2009
Updated: December 4, 2009

WESTERVILLE, Ohio—A man who fatally shot his two daughters before killing himself was being sought by authorities after children services requested an investigation into a mark on the youngest daughter’s leg.
It’s a story NBC 4 has been following since it broke Thursday afternoon.
Westerville police were called to 813 Westray Dr. Thursday afternoon after 11-year-old Sarah Dobson didn’t show up for school for two days.
St. Paul Elementary School officials called Sarah’s mother, Joyce Dobson, who said she had no idea what was going on or where her child was.
Sarah’s principal called police because her father, 44-year-old Daniel Dobson, didn’t call her in as absent as he always did.
Westerville officers arrived at the residence at 12:09 p.m. but were not able to make contact with anyone in the residence.
Police contacted Joyce who arrived at the home at 1:03 p.m. and allowed officers into the home.
Officers found the bodies 15-year-old Nicole Dobson, Sarah and Daniel in an upstairs bedroom.
Detectives were called to the scene.
The investigation revealed both Nicole and Sarah were shot once while they were sleeping in the same bed. Daniel fatally shot himself with a shotgun at the foot of the same bed, police said.
He left a suicide note, police said. Authorities weren’t releasing information on the suicide note, only saying that it was several pages long and includes “everything.“
Police said there weren’t any witnesses and no one heard the gunshots.
The girls’ father and mother had a shared parenting agreement; they divorced in May 2009.
The daughters were staying with their father in Westerville.
Franklin County Children Services requested an investigation after a mark on Sarah’s leg was reported to FCCS.
Westerville police tried to make contact with Daniel twice, calling on both Monday and Wednesday of this week.
Messages were left but weren’t returned.
“A call was placed to him on Monday night trying to set up an appointment to interview. He didn’t answer that call. Detectives left a message for him to call him back. On Tuesday, there was contact with children services, who were involved in this case to get more details and then the detectives were attempting to make contact again when we got the call on Thursday,“ said Lt. John Petrozzi of Westerville police.
According to FCCS, there have been three complaints against Daniel—one in 2007, 2008 and Nov. 2009.
The complaints involved alcohol and violence, but in each case, the daughters denied they were abused.
Neighbors told police they last saw Daniel and his daughters around 9 p.m. Wednesday night.
Authorities said they believe Daniel killed his daughters at about 4 a.m. Thursday. Authorities were waiting on toxicology reports.
Nicole was a freshman at Westerville Central High School.
Westerville City Schools Executive Director of Communications Greg Viebrantz said the school had counselors at the school Friday.
Franklin County Municipal Court records showed the listed owner of the home on Westray Drive was due in court Thursday on a hit-skip traffic charge. A warrant for his arrest was issued when he did not show.
A memorial fund was set up through Huntington Bank called the Nicole and Sarah Dobson Memorial Fund.