Several Bodies Discovered at Mandan Business – UPDATE

UPDATE - 5:00 p.m.

Mandan, ND (KX NEWS / KEYZ) Mandan Police Chief Jason Ziegler confirming this afternoon in a press conference on KX NEWS that police dispatched to a Mandan business this morning for a medical call came upon a scene that is now being ruled a multiple homicide.  Chief Ziegler stating today that four people were murdered, three men and one woman, inside RJR Maintenance and Management. At this time, the names of the deceased are being withheld pending identification and notification of next of kin, and details relative to cause or time of death and suspect leads are unavailable as the investigation is ongoing; however, Chief Ziegler believes that based on the nature of the crime scene that this is a single incident not posing a greater threat to the general public.

There is no suspect in custody at this time, but police are asking that if there are individuals who may have seen something or have surveillance video, to please contact them right away.

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Mandan, (KFGO/KEYZ)  Police responding to a medical call at a Mandan business on Monday found “several” bodies, authorities said.  The Mandan Police Department issued a three-sentence news release confirming that officers had found “several people who were deceased inside” the business.  Police did not say how many people were dead and did not immediately respond to a request for more details.
Morton County referred a request for comment to city police. The state Bureau of Criminal Investigation confirmed that it was helping with the investigation but has not offered any details.

Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier confirmed that the business was RJR Maintenance and Management, a property management company where police and sheriff’s vehicles were clustered.

No one answered the phone at the business, which is somewhat isolated despite its location in a business district near a busy main road known as The Strip. A large empty lot sits in the front, a golf course in back and a soccer complex to one side.

Gina Kessel, 52, of Mandan, showed up at the business Monday to pick up her son, Mitchell Kessel, an employee there. She said Mitchell “called me, said something is going on.” She said he didn’t tell her what.

The pair hugged, with both of them crying. Her son did not speak before going back behind a police line.