Couple on run after daughter dies in house fire and abuse claims surface, GA cops say
A Georgia couple are on the run after an investigation into a fire that killed their 10-year-old daughter revealed signs of cruelty and neglect, according to Gwinnett County police.
William Linn McCue, 47, and Carina Wisniewski McCue, 38, both of Loganville, face charges of first- and second-degree child cruelty and false imprisonment, police said in a May 6 news release.
Authorities have said the fire was intentionally set by the girl’s 15-year-old brother on Easter Sunday. He is charged with murder, police said, and will be tried as an adult.
The couple’s last known location was at an extended-stay hotel on North Brown Road in Lawrenceville, and they were last seen driving a 2017 white Honda Accord with Georgia tag number CHB7385, police said. Efforts to reach them have been unsuccessful.
While investigating the fatal house fire, detectives said they uncovered harrowing signs that the couple’s children “might be victims” of child cruelty, the release states. This prompted a separate investigation into the McCues.
Investigators pointed to “unsanitary and dangerous living conditions” inside the home, including “camping-style” buckets that served as toilets and to the showers and bathtubs that didn’t appear to be working, police said.
“They located a makeshift bed with bedding in the bathtub in the bathroom where the (10-year-old) victim was found deceased,” according to authorities. “The kitchen sink had been re-plumbed for the water from the faucet to go into a five-gallon bucket sitting on the floor.”
In an affidavit, state investigators previously wrote that the children — five in all — hadn’t attended school in years and hadn’t bathed in months, McClatchy News reported.
Anyone with information on their whereabouts is asked to call Gwinnett County police detectives at 770-513-5300, or submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers at 404-577-TIPS (8477).
This story was originally published May 6, 2022 at 5:20 PM with the headline "Couple on run after daughter dies in house fire and abuse claims surface, GA cops say."