Deacon and wife killed in their own Ohio home

NORTH ROYALTON, Ohio (Cleveland.com) — An elderly deacon and his wife were found shot to death Sunday at their North Royalton home, police said.

Dennis and Helen Lucak, both 72, died from gunshot wounds, police said. Their bodies were found about 9 p.m. in an apartment complex on Harbour Light Drive off Abbey Road. No arrests have been made in the case.

Dennis Lucak was a deacon at the Archangel Michael Church, an Orthodox Church in America church, in Broadview Heights, according to the church’s website.

Det. David Loeding said both were shot multiple times. Both deaths are homicides, he said.

Dennis Lucak’s sister alerted North Royalton police about 6:45 p.m. Sunday after Dennis and Helen did not show up for a Sunday church function earlier in the day.

She, along with police, went to the home for a welfare check. Officers found the couple dead inside a locked bedroom, according to police and dispatch logs.

Loeding said investigators are honing in on a motive, but that they were still piecing things together. The dispatch logs show they were tracking someone’s phone in connection with the case.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is assisting North Royalton police, Loeding said.

Both were longtime parishioners at the church and Dennis Lucak a longtime deacon, said Phil Tesar, the church’s marketing director. He said church officials would likely comment further out of respect for the family.

“Obviously this is shocking and most distressing news," Tesar said. “We ask all of you to pray for their souls and the peace of their family.”