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A family feud in rural Ashville, Pennsylvania, ended in a night of multiple killings. On a Friday evening, 64-year-old Roberta Jo Patterson Frew opened her front door and was shot dead by her estranged daughter, Josephine Ruckinger. Roberta’s son, John Frew Jr., was fatally shot by Josephine’s husband, Jeffrey Ruckinger, after the family returned home from dinner.
Roberta’s husband, John Frew Sr., retrieved a .22-caliber revolver from a back room and shot and killed both Josephine and Jeffrey; investigators were told he did not recognize his daughter in the moment. Authorities reported ammunition, a gas can, and charcoal lighter fluid in the Ruckingers’ vehicle, and the Cambria County District Attorney called the event a home invasion that was a murder plot. No charges were filed against John Frew Sr., who was found to have acted in self-defense.
Who in Ashville might have seen the Ruckingers’ vehicle or noticed anything out of the ordinary that night?