Former Sammamish residents killed in Chicago area

A mother and three children who once lived in Sammamish were found fatally shot in the suburban Chicago area, authorities there reported. The woman's husband and the children's father was also shot.

The slain victims were identified Thursday by Will County Coroner Pat O'Neil as Kimberly Ellen Vaughn, 34, who died from a single gunshot wound, and her children: Cassandra Vaughn, 11, Abigayle Vaughn, 12, and Blake Vaughn, 8, who were also fatally shot.

Until about two years ago, the family lived in the 22600 block of Northeast 15th Place in Sammamish, neighbors there said, when they sold their house and moved to the Chicago area where Christopher Vaughn, the husband and father, had relocated to run a computer-security business.

"We knew them really well. We had a party for them before they left," said one former neighbor in Sammamish who asked not to be identified. "They were a wonderful family."

The bodies were found in a sport-utility vehicle off Interstate 55 near the suburb of Channahon, about 40 miles southwest of Chicago.

Christopher Vaughn, who had been in or near the vehicle, alerted a passer-by to the incident about 5:30 a.m. Thursday, authorities said. Christopher Vaughn also suffered a gunshot wound and was taken to a hospital in Joliet, Ill., where he was treated and released to police, said a hospital spokeswoman.

Illinois State Police reported Thursday afternoon that Christopher Vaughn was at police headquarters but was not under arrest.

"He's being very cooperative and is assisting us in this incident, and helping us get a good picture of what happened," said State Police Capt. Carl Dobrich. "He's been talked to. He's free to go. He's not asked to leave. He's answering questions, and he's assisting us greatly."

Former neighbors in Sammamish said the Vaughn family originally was from Missouri but had moved to the Seattle area because of Christopher Vaughn's work in computer security.

Vaughn worked with such clients as the University of Washington and savings-and-loan associations, said one neighbor.

Until 2005, Vaughn had offices in downtown Bellevue on 108th Avenue Northeast, but the phones there have been disconnected and the office closed.

A forwarding phone number for the company in the Chicago area asks callers to leave a message for Chris Vaughn. Vaughn merged his company here with one in Chicago, and the family moved in 2005 to Oswego, another Chicago suburb, neighbors added.

Seattle Times reporter Peyton Whitely contributed to this story.