Father of woman found dead with twins in Melbourne apartment complex struggles to find answers
The father of a 35-year-old woman whose decomposed body was found in a car with his 3-year-old twins struggled to get answers on Tuesday as Melbourne detectives scrambled to determine how the three died .
Police said Andrea Langhorst, who occasionally lived in her Cadillac with her two children, Olivia and Adam, was identified on Monday. The three were identified by police as being from St. Lucie County.
Autopsies are scheduled for the three, whose bodies were found in the car, parked at Manatee Cove flats off US 1 in Melbourne.
“It’s still under investigation. We don’t have any information on how long they were there. But she was living in her car,” police department spokesman Lt. Shaun Hill said. from Melbourne.
Detectives have no reason to believe there is any active or ongoing danger to the community from the deaths, he said.
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Randy Langhorst, of Fort Pierce, said he and his family were devastated by the news.
He had not heard from his daughter since March 11 and had contacted the police last weekend to look for her.
“We were looking for her and hadn’t heard from her. It was unusual for her. We wouldn’t have daily contact with her, but it had been a long time,” Langhorst told FLORIDA TODAY.
“She was a free spirit, smart as a whip, beautiful, but lived her life to the beat of her own drummer. It’s just a tragedy,” he said, his voice shaking with emotion.
The gruesome discovery was reported to Melbourne Police at 10.50pm on Sunday after a caller relayed a message that a suspicious vehicle was parked at the Manatee Cove apartment complex at 746 Madelyn Way.
Patrolmen arrived within minutes, approached the gray Cadillac, which was near the trash can. The windows were fogged up, according to reports.
Officers located the remains of the mother and twins inside the vehicle.
Detectives had the vehicle and remains transported to the Brevard medical examiner’s office where investigators were working to find any evidence of blunt trauma.
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Blood toxicology was also scheduled to determine if drug use was a factor.
It is not known if all three died at the same time, or if the mother died first and the children later. Detectives hoped to review video of the Cadillac as it pulled into the apartment complex parking lot and any interaction Andrea Langhorst may have had with anyone.
Randy Langhorst said he suspected drugs may have been a factor in his daughter’s death. Andrea Langhorst had multiple drug arrests and appeared in drug court, according to St. Lucie County Court records.
The children’s father is at the Brevard County Jail Complex, awaiting trial in an unrelated case, investigators said.
“The twins were her pride and joy. All I can think is maybe… maybe the car was driving and she fell asleep, maybe the fumes overwhelmed them . I don’t know,” Langhorst said.
Andrea and the twins had stayed with her parents in Fort Pierce over the holidays. They shared Thanksgiving while the grandparents watched the movie “Shrek” with Adam and taught Olivia how to swim.
“Olivia was a little more outgoing,” Langhorst said.
In addition to living in her car, Andrea has been staying in Airbnb rentals, staying off the radar, her father said.
He described her as being in very good spirits the last time he saw her.
Her parents had spoken with Andrea several times about the possibility of the grandchildren staying with them, but Andrea insisted on keeping her children, her father recalls.
“It was final. It was his decision. We didn’t exactly approve of his lifestyle. It’s all retrospective, but I’m going to kick my ass for the rest of my life,” he said.
“All I can think of are these babies.”
JD Galop is a Criminal Justice/Breaking News reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallop at 321-917-4641 or [email protected]. Twitter: @JDGallop.
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Melbourne Police are investigating the death of St Lucie County mother and twins
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