Colleen Church

Police believe Colleen Church shot her six year-old granddaughter Alexis before killing herself in a tragic murder-suicide. Relatives are now coming forward to detail how a string of personal tragedies and a secret battle with depression may have pushed Church over the edge. 

Eureka, Missouri police say Church, 50, picked up her granddaughter from school on Monday and took her to a Holiday Inn near the Six Flags Park for a girl's night out - something Church did for her Alexis semi-regularly. Police believe Church shot her granddaughter sometime Monday night or Tuesday morning the last week of September 2015. Their bodies were discovered by hotel staff at 11:30 am on Tuesday, after the two failed to check out on time.

Preliminary reports from the medical examiner suggest that Church and her granddaughter each died of a single gunshot wound to the head. Eureka police told the St Louis Post-Dispatch that investigators have spoken with relatives who say Church was under pressure and was still mourning the loss of both her husband and one of her sons, who died of a drug overdose five years ago.