Car torched 4 miles from murder scene

WYOMING, Mich. (WOOD) - Some Wyoming residents woke in the early hours of Saturday to find a car on fire outside their apartment complex. They soon found out it was connected to a double homicide that occurred several miles away.

David and Vivian Bouwman, ages 81 and 80, were found shot to death in their Kentwood home later Saturday. Investigators say the crime appears to have been random. They don't yet have any suspects.

The Bouwmans' burned-out vehicle was found four miles away on Madison Avenue in Wyoming. It was dropped off behind Arbor Park Apartments. Neighbors woke to the surprise of intense flames outside their windows.

After learning the car had been stolen in what appears to be a home invasion-turned-double homicide, neighbors who live near where the car burned have many questions.

A young child can be heard in the background of home video asking a pivotal question of his mother, the answer to which would be sadly stunning:

"Whose car was that?"

It was odd, indeed, to see a burning Cadillac DeVille outside the window and no owner reacting.

"Nobody did anything, nobody came out and claimed it, nobody said anything," said Dorothy Daniels, who saw the car burning.

Smoke billowed from the flaming car, presumed to be a smoldering crime cover-up, and could be seen for blocks.

"You could tell it was set on fire," said Daniels.

But who done it was long gone.

After discovering the burned car, police went to the home of its owners -- David and Vivian Bouwman -- but no one answered the door. Not long after, a fellow resident of the quiet Kentwood neighborhood reported what he thought to be an attempted break-in at his home. Footprints in the snow led police to find the Bouwmans shot to death.

"Crime knows no boundaries," Kentwood Police Chief Tom Hillen told 24 Hour News 8.

"To me it's scary, thinking, knowing that there is two people that got murdered and all of a sudden the car ended up out here," said Daniels.

What is even more scary -- and what remains the focus of Hillen and Kentwood police -- is that the killers are still out there.

"It's unfortunate," said Chief Hillen. "Why does it happen? I don't think we know."

Police said they have received some information from the public -- none of which has yet led to an arrest.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Silent Observer at 616.774.2345 or the Kentwood Police Department at 616.698.6580.