The investigation into the death of the Wisconsin newlyweds in their automobile is still ongoing, but officials have issued the official causes of death.
Rachel and Brandon Dumovich were found dead in their automobile with apparent gunshot wounds just before midnight on October 6 in Harvard, Illinois, some 60 miles north of Chicago.
Six weeks after the deaths were discovered, the Harvard Police Department issued an update on the case after receiving the couple’s autopsy results.
“Based on the ongoing joint investigation and the findings of the McHenry County Coroner’s Office, the incident is being deemed a homicide-suicide,” according to a notice from the police department. “The investigation indicates that Brandon Dumovich fatally shot Rachel Dumovich before taking his own life,” according to the release.
Police also stated that, while investigators are currently analyzing evidence and reports in the case, the killings were an isolated incident and pose no ongoing threat to the community.
Rachel, 29, and Brandon, 30, were only days away from celebrating their first wedding anniversary on October 12 when they died.
They appeared to be the ideal couple, with their wedding website saying that they met when they were 12 years old in middle school. Brandon’s high school photos show him in his football outfit standing with Rachel, a cheerleader.
They had been good friends for 15 years before they began dating. When they began dating in 2022, things went quickly; within two years, they were married and living together in Wisconsin.
Rachel attended the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and worked in human resources, according to her obituary.
Brandon had served as a Petty Officer in the United States Navy, according to his obituary, and he had just turned 30 that weekend.
Neither of their obituaries mentions their marriage.
According to a prior police announcement on October 8, an officer approached the vehicle to see if they needed motorist help and discovered Brandon deceased in the passenger seat and Rachel dead in the driver’s seat. The automobile was stopped on Route 14 with its “hazard lights activated,” according to the announcement.
Brandon and Rachel had both received gunshot wounds to the head, and authorities later discovered a revolver inside the vehicle.
At the time of their deaths, the couple lived just a few miles apart in Sharon, Wisconsin, a community of only 1,500 people on the state’s border with Illinois.
If you have any information about this case, please contact the Harvard Police Department at (815) 943-4431 or Crime Stoppers at (815) 943-4343.
