Coroner identifies 4 family members who died in home near Crystal Lake after reported shooting

Details surrounding the deaths of four family members this week in a home near Crystal Lake remained scant Thursday as authorities continued their investigation into a domestic incident that started with a 911 call from a woman inside the home of someone “shooting their relatives.”

McHenry County Coroner Michael Rein identified the four adults who died Wednesday as Jean Song, 44; Lauren Smith-Song, 32; Chang Song, 73; and Yuna Song, 49. Rein identified Jean Song as male. The coroner did not release their causes of death and said their autopsies would be conducted on Thursday.

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A bicyclist rides past a home in 5800 block of Wild Plum Road in unincorporated Crystal Lake on Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, where four family members, including three females and a male “aggressor,” were killed Wednesday, as the McHenry County Sheriff Department continue to investigate the scene (Gregory Shaver — gshaver@shawm/Gregory Shaver Shaw Media )

A fifth relative, an adult female who called 911 and was taken from the scene to a hospital by the Crystal Lake Fire Department in serious condition, remained in the hospital as of Thursday afternoon, according to a McHenry County Sheriff’s office news release. Authorities did not identify the woman or offer an update on her condition.

Rein said the sheriff’s department contacted his office on Wednesday to “investigate an apparent shooting with fatalities” in the 5800 block of Wild Plum Road in unincorporated Crystal Lake. The Coroner’s Office is continuing to work with the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office and the Major Investigation Assistance Team during this investigation, according to the release.

According to the McHenry County Treasurer’s office website, Jean Song and Yuna Song have been listed as the property owners since 2013.

McHenry County sheriff’s deputies responded to the home about 4 a.m. Wednesday. “Upon arrival on scene, deputies located three deceased adult females, an adult female seriously injured, and an adult male, believed to be the aggressor, seriously injured,” the sheriff’s office said in Thursday’s release. The “aggressor” was taken to a local hospital and later pronounced dead, according to the release.

All five were family members, police said.

The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office, in conjunction with the MIAT and the McHenry County Coroner’s Office, are involved in the ongoing investigation.

Deputies, investigators and evidence technicians were at the house for several hours on Wednesday and a drone also was used during the investigation.

Neighbors on Wednesday said they hadn’t heard anything overnight and were startled by waking up to police and TV news crews along the streets.

Neighbors said the neighborhood is a safe, quiet friendly place to live and they were shocked by the killings.

Peggy Caldrone, a neighbor who has lived nearby in the subdivision since 2013 on the corner of Wild Plum and White Ash roads, said Wednesday that she had her window open and didn’t hear anything during the night. She woke up at 6:30 a.m. to see cars parked outside her window, referring to police and news vehicles.

“It’s surreal,” Caldrone said. “You don’t often wake up to crime tape outside your windows in the morning. It’s just not real.”

She said her family called, saying they saw her house on the news and asked if she felt safe living there, which she said she did.

“I feel totally safe,” she said. “It is a quiet neighborhood and they [all the people who live there] are so nice.”

She mentioned one neighbor who at the beginning of the Ukrainian war hung a Ukrainian flag and sold pierogies to neighbors to support Ukraine.

“So, this is just not the norm,” Caldrone said.