When an Alpharetta Police Department officer entered room 312 at Homewood Suites on Davis Drive on Monday, he noticed the thermostat read 74 degrees, there was a coffee cup with cigarette butts in it on the balcony and there was a box of bullets on the counter.
Then he opened the door to the bedroom and found Ruth Reissiger and her daughter Elizabeth lying on a bed next to each other, the police report says. There was blood on the bed and walls, and Ruth, 61, of Foley, Alabama, had a gun next to her face. She was holding Elizabeth’s hand.
These details were outlined in a police report released Friday about the murder-suicide that occurred sometime between Friday, March 17 and Monday, March 20.
Police spokesman George Gordon said Tuesday that the mother killed the daughter, 38, of Dacula, and then took her own life. One of the women was dead at the scene, and the other was taken to WellStar North Fulton Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The report did not specify which woman was taken to the hospital.
The police report shows that an officer responded to a welfare check and arrived at the hotel around 1:30 p.m. on Monday. The hotel manager advised him that a female couple rented a room on March 17 just before 7 p.m. The manager told police the couple stayed in the room the entire time with a “do not disturb” sign on the door.
Ruth and Elizabeth were scheduled to check out on Monday. The manager told police she knocked on the door several times and tried to call the room, but there was no answer. The door was deadbolted from the inside, the report says.
The officer knocked on the door and identified himself, but there was still no answer. The manager then sawed the door lock and the officer entered the room, the report says.
Next to the box of bullets he discovered an empty gun box. There was also a bag on the counter with a note attached, but what was written on the note was not revealed in the police report.
The case is still open and active. No other details were available on Friday.
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