Dubuque Co. Sheriff's Office closes investigation into murder-suicide that ended in Dane Co.

DUBUQUE, Iowa -- The Dubuque County Sheriff's Office is closing its investigation into a murder-suicide that began in Iowa and ended in Dane County earlier this year.

Deputies were investigating after Tana Poppe, 32, was found dead of an apparent gunshot wound at a home in La Motte, Iowa on April 10. A 13-year-old girl and 5-month-old child who were staying with Poppe were not there when law enforcement arrived.

Alexander Grunke, 37, was quickly identified as a person of interest in the case. He and Poppe were the parents of the younger child. Later on April 10, Dane County deputies were called to a home in the Town of Dunn where Grunke and the teen had reportedly left the infant.

Grunke then led deputies on a car chase, during which he and the teen used a rifle and handgun to shoot at deputies. Law enforcement used road spikes to stop the vehicle, at which point Grunke and the teen ran from the area.

The teen was later found unresponsive in the nearby woods and died. The cause of her death has not ben released. Grunke broke into a home in Albion, barricaded himself in the basement and then died by suicide following a standoff with law enforcement.

Kennedy said Wednesday that the Iowa Medical Examiner's Office found that the gun used to kill Poppe was the same one used in Grunke's suicide. Because of that finding, Kennedy's office determined there is no further danger to the public. Grunke was the only known offender in the case, which is no longer being investigated.

​COPYRIGHT 2024 BY CHANNEL 3000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.