Fear and questions remain months after deaths of elderly couple near Sheridan

SIDNEY TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — Nearly four months after the shooting deaths of an elderly couple near Sheridan, the case remains unsolved.

The family of victims Jessie and Virginia Seward is growing more frustrated and the community is still in fear, though police have said there’s no known ongoing threat.

The Sewards, both in their 80s, were shot to death in their home on Beaver Drive near W County Farm Road in Sidney Township in June. Police have released few details to the community or the family.

“People that have lived in this community for 50 and 60 years are like, ‘Debbie, we never used to lock our doors; we do now,’ or (say they have) baseball bats or two-by-fours or guns loaded,” Deborah Soule said. “It affected our whole community. It did.”

Soule, Jessie Seward’s stepdaughter, said she was home on June 26 when she noticed an ambulance across the street at the couple’s home.

“I thought maybe my dad’s heart had quit,” she said.

Then she saw the state police cars.

“They just told me there was two victims in the house. They did not say deceased, so I had hope,” Soule said. “And then after a few minutes another officer came up and said that the two victims, the male and female, were deceased.

“The world stops and you’re not living in reality anymore because you just want to tell yourself it’s not true, it’s not true, it’s not true, it’s not true,” she continued.

STEPDAUGHTER WONDERS ABOUT MOTIVE

Death records show 81-year-old Jessie Seward had suffered a single gunshot wound to the head, while his 80-year-old wife was shot more than once. Records listed the date of the shootings as June 24, two days before a granddaughter discovered their bodies. They had been married nearly 28 years.

Deborah Soule grew up in the house where the shooting happened and has lived across the street for nearly 50 years. She said she loved her stepdad as a father.

“He was a stepdad for 57 years. He’s the one that walked me down the aisle and gave me away when I got married. Everybody knew if I said, ‘Dad,’ I was talking about Jessie Seward.”

She can’t understand why anybody would target them.

“I’ve never heard anybody say a bad word about them, ever, and just that they loved them,” she said. “They were kind people. I mean, they had a lot of energy for being in their 80s.

“That’s the part that got me,” she added. “I’m like, OK, you’ve got two people in their 80s, still working. Does that tell you that they probably weren’t rich people? They weren’t.”

Jessie Seward worked a retirement job at Stanton Hardware, while his wife worked at the hardware store and at Sheridan Village Market.

NO ARRESTS, REDACTED REPORTS

The stepdaughter said the lack of information from police has left the family with rumors and speculation.

“It is frustrating that nobody’s saying anything,” she said. “I’ve heard that arrests have been made, but nothing formal.”

Arrests, perhaps, on other charges, she has heard, while police try to build a case. But Montcalm County Prosecutor Andrea Krause told Target 8 that nobody is in custody, though she wouldn’t say whether state police have identified any possible suspects. Heavily redacted state police reports obtained by Target 8 reveal nothing new about the case.

“Every day I sit here and think, how do you make it to 80-some years old and this is how you go out?” Soule said. “Not fair and not right, and I want to know who did it.”

In the meantime, the home where the couple has lived for more than 50 years is now up for sale.

“I wanted to see the damn thing bulldozed in because I had such wonderful memories of growing up in that house, but now when I look over there, I see tragedy. I do,” Soule said.

Even though state police have said there was no known active threat in the community, she and her husband aren’t taking any chances.

“At night, that door is barricaded and so is that door,” she said, pointing to her front and back doors. “And my husband goes to bed at night with a loaded .380. I mean, loaded.”

Anyone with information about the deaths is asked to call the Michigan State Police Lakeview Post at 989.352.8444 or Silent Observer at 616.774.2345.

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