Identities disclosed of woman, daughter and son fatally shot near park playground in Ramsey

A 33-year-old woman, her daughter and son were found fatally shot in an SUV near a park playground in Ramsey, officials said.

Anoka County sheriff’s deputies and Ramsey police officers were sent to Rum River Central Regional Park shortly before 10 a.m. Monday to conduct a welfare check and found the adult and girl were dead, said Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Tierney Peters. The boy was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead.

The Elk River School District notified families who have children attending Twin Lakes Elementary School that the children who died were third-grader Solara Frank, 9, and her brother Laiken, 4, who attended Discovery Learning preschool.

The statement said their mother died as well, but it did not include her name. Court records identify her as Jessica L. Frank, of Monticello.

“Our hearts are with the Frank family and all of those impacted during this difficult time,” the statement read.

Peters said that “at this point in the investigation, this appears to be an isolated incident, and there is no known threat to the public.”

In response to a question from the Star Tribune, Peters added, “No arrests have been made, and law enforcement is not looking for any suspects.”

Peters’ words echo what law enforcement routinely says in cases of suspected murder-suicide. As of midday Tuesday, the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office had yet to release the cause and manner of the deaths.

Including this incident, five people have been fatally shot in the past two weeks in Anoka County under similar circumstances.

The bodies of Sarah Fay Gordon, 41, and longtime private security provider Daniel Joseph Seman, 66, were found by police around noon on March 27 in an SUV parked in an area of retail outlets in Blaine in the 10700 block of Town Square Drive NE.

As in Monday’s incident, Peters said law enforcement was not looking for any suspects in the couple’s death. The cause and manner of their deaths are also pending release by the Medical Examiner’s Office.