No suspects as yet.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: A married couple in their 60s was found dead inside their Rockville, Maryland, home on Sunday afternoon and their deaths are being treated as homicides, according local news outlet NBC4 Washington.
Police identified the two victims as 65-year-old hotelier Richard Louis Vilardo and his wife, Julianne Humphreys Vilardo, 67, who were found dead at their home on the 13200 block of Ridge Drive after they failed to show up for Mother’s Day plans with other family members.
Capt. Paul Starks, a police department spokesman, told The Washington Post that both members of the couple appear to have suffered trauma to their upper bodies, but a specific cause of death would be determined by autopsy.
The spokesman informed The Post that Richard Vilardo’s body was found outdoors, just behind the house, and his wife’s body was found inside.
Family members told NBC4 that they don’t know what happened, and police have not indicated whether they believe the couple was targeted or if it was a random act.
“Dick and Jody Vilardo were a warm and loving couple,†read a statement released by the Vilardos’ family. It added that family members “know of no one who would wish them harm.â€
According to the Washington Post, Vilardo was a co-founder of Pinnacle Hotel Management, a Florida based entity that was established in 1997 to develop and manage Marriott and Hilton-branded hotels.
“I am heartbroken,†said Steven J. Fairbanks — one of Pinnacle’s principals — to The Post. “Dick Vilardo was one of the greatest gentlemen I ever met,†he continued.
“Dick and Jodi were the perfect couple. They will be sorely missed,†he concluded while writing to The Post via email.