MURDER SUSPECT STILL AT LARGE

Catawba County Sheriff's Investigators line the street near the scene of a gristly quadruple murder Thursday morning. Photo Contributed/TCS.

By Jon Mayhew

As authorities continue searching for a murder suspect in a Catawba County quadruple homicide that happened Thursday morning, a usually quiet community is trying to come to grips with a senseless tragedy.

After 7am, four bodies were discovered in a residence in the Millstone community in Conover. Family members identified the dead as a mother named Lisa Saephan, 3-year-old Cody Saechao, 17-year-old Pauline Schae, and 20-year-old Melanie Saephan.

Catawba County Sheriff's Office chief Coy Reid told The Carolina Scoop the victims appeared to be shot and some may have been stabbed. Neighbors told authorities they heard screams coming from the residence between 7 - 7:15am.

Authorities are looking for a male who is of Asian or Hispanic descent. He is in 30's to 40's. He was last seen in a black or dark blue Toyota or Honda sedan with a partial plate "P-24."

Crime scene tape -- a sight not seen in the Millstone neighborhood in Conover -- covered the streets Thursday morning. Photo Contributed/TCS

Reid said the backdoor of the residence was found to be opened when authorities arrived at the scene.

The house where the bodies were found is located on the corner of Gristmill Drive and Stone Road, off Houston Mill Road.

Authorities said a teenage girl drove to the house to pick up her friend, Pauline Schae. The girls were on the way to Bunker Hill High School. As the two drove out of the neighborhood, the driver looked back and saw a man on the front porch of the house.

The driver told Schae and she asked the driver to go back to the house.

When Schae walked onto the front porch of her house, the door opened and a man grabbed her. He pulled Schae into the house and killed her.

The driver told authorities she was scared and drove away. She immediately called 911.

The father, Brian Tzeo, had already left for his job at International Paper in Statesville. Around midday, investigators brought Tzeo back to the crime scene.

Three Catawba County schools – Lyle Creek Elementary, Riverbend Middle School and Bunker Hill High School – were placed on lockdown Thursday morning while authorities conducted an intense manhunt for the suspect. The lockdown was lifted around 11:40am.

The SBI is assisting the Catawba County Sheriff's Department with the investigation.

As of Thursday night, the bodies were still inside the house and investigators were busy collecting evidence from the scene.