Parents Found Stuffed In A Freezer — Oregon Son Arrested For Double Murder

Jeremy Ringquist, a 38-year-old Oregon man, has been arrested for the double murder of his parents. Their bodies were found stuffed in a freezer at their Springfield home.

According to the Huffington Post, authorities went looking for the parents of Jeremy Ringquist twice after a suspicious out-of-state relative asked police to check on them. But officers were sent away each time by a note on the door claiming the couple was away from home.

On Thursday, an officer made a third attempt to check on the family. Shortly after knocking, the son of the missing parents, Jeremy Ringquist, called 911 and requested a police negotiator. More officers arrived on the scene and broke inside after Ringquist failed to come to the door.

They found Jeremy Ringquist bloody from self-injury and took him to the hospital. The injuries appeared to be inflicted by a knife, but Ringquist might also have suffered from drug-related harm.

After obtaining a search warrant, officers came across the corpses of Randy and Karen Ringquist stashed in the freezer. While the bodies have not been formally identified, Sgt. Rich Charboneau is confident they are the parents of Jeremy Ringquist, who was arrested after being released from the hospital.

According to the Register Guard, despite the small size of the chest-style freezer, the bodies of both parents were intact.

“Anytime you have a death, it’s terrible,” said Charboneau. “We don’t have that many homicides here in this area, let alone Springfield, and so when you have two people whose bodies appear [that way], it’s sad.”

Jeremy Ringquist is being held for two counts of aggravated murder. It is currently unknown if Ringquist will request a court-appointed lawyer or if he will find an attorney on his own. Police are also unsure how long the parents of Jeremy Ringquist have been dead or how they were killed. The results of the autopsy have still not been released to the public.

According to the Mirror, the mother found in the freezer had been abused by both her husband Randy, and her son Jeremy, before the son ultimately killed her. The father had also been verbally abusive to Jeremy for much of his life. Neighbors of the family claim that Jeremy Ringquist moved in with his parents following a divorce six months ago.

The LinkedIn profile of Jeremy Ringquist lists him as a “seasoned engineer” who spent much of his career working in Chicago. It appears that Jeremy did not have a prior arrest record.

[Image courtesy of Springfield Police Deparment via AP]