Authorities are investigating an apparent murder-suicide.
Shortly after 8 a.m. Tuesday, deputies were dispatched the the scene of a reported crash at State Highway 110 and North Shore Road in the town of Royalton.
The 911 caller reported that a vehicle was in the ditch, its engine still running and its wheels spinning.
The caller said two people, who appeared to be unconscious, were in the vehicle.
“When we arrived, the crash didn’t make sense,” according to Waupaca County Sheriff Brad Hardel. “There were two bodies in the vehicle. As we processed the scene, it appeared the crash was the aftermath of the murder-suicide.”
The two bodies were identified as a 32-year-old woman and her 51-year-old husband.
The couple were separated. The husband was living in their rural Weyauwega residence, while the wife was living with relatives in rural Manawa.
Evidence suggests the husband shot his wife multiple times, then shot himself, before crashing the vehicle.
Further investigation uncovered a security video from the parking lot at the nearby Crossings supper club.
The video shows the husband pulling into the parking lot shortly before 8 a.m. He exits his vehicle, then enters the vehicle driven by his wife.
The vehicle appears to have crashed immediately after leaving the parking lot.
Names are being withheld pending notification of relatives.