Cassandra Bjorge and her boyfriend Johnny Ryder arrested for the murder of her grandparents
Mike Gallagher
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - A granddaughter and her boyfriend are in custody after allegedly killing her grandparents and then trying to kill themselves with a knife.
Authorities responded to an apartment off McGinnis Ferry Road Sunday, where Cassandra Bjorge, 17, and her boyfriend, Johnny Rider, 19, were arrested after an hour-long standoff with SWAT members for the murders of Wendy and Randall Bjorge, both 63.
The teens were transported to a local hospital around 12:30 p.m. with self-inflicted knife wounds, police said.
This comes after conceed family members from out-of-state called police, asking them to do a welfare check at the home of the elderly couple on the 1900 block of Furlong Run in Lawrenceville. When they arrived, just after midnight on Sunday, they found the elderly couple dead
"The family members hadn't heard from them in about a week, so they've been calling," David Smith, with the Gwinnett County Police Department, said. "We've been out to the location before to make contact. This time, we actually entered the home."
An officer said that it was 'immediately apparent' that the couple had been murdered.
It appeared that they had been beaten to death, police said, although their time of death and the exact nature of their killing has not yet been determined.
Wendy and Randall won custody of Bjorge in 2016, according to court documents. It's not clear where her parents are at this time, police said.
Bjorge had gone missing 'multiple times' prior to her grandparents' murder the police official said.
She was a 'habitual runaway' who was known to the officers who found her grandparents' car, he added.
She disappeared on December 18 in Lawrenceville when she was still 16, according to a poster shared on Facebook on January 3.
Wendy reported her found two days later on a Facebook group dedicated to missing children.
On April 1, Wendy posted again, this time on her own Facebook timeline, saying: 'please spread the word... PLEASE BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR CASSIE.'
One commenter said: 'Not again?? I pray that she is safe and retu home.'
