Bart Heller, a jilted boyfriend from Fort Wayne, Indiana, posted on Facebook a text that led police to a gruesome murder scene, where he killed two 19-year-olds before committing suicide.
Police found the bodies after a getting a tip from thousands of miles away.
Bart Heller, 43, posted at 2:26 pm Saturday: “someone call 911. three dead bodies at 3229 lima road fort wayne indiana. I’ve killed ryann, erin, and myself. people were warned not to f******* play me and ruin me. they didn’t listen. sorry about your luck.”
Nancy Lopez, who lives across the country in Washington state, spotted the Facebook posting on her status news feed and called police.
Less than 20 minutes later, police arrived at the address to find Erin Jehl, Bart Heller’s ex-girlfriend, and Ryann Tipton, both 19, shot to death. Bart Heller was also dead in the house, according to reports.
Bart Heller apparently killed Erin Jehl after she dumped him several days before. Ryann Tipton was Erin Jehl’s high school friend and was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Police have not formally identified Bart Heller as the shooter, but said Erin Jehl was picking up some of her things from her ex-boyfriend when he killed her and Ryann Tipton.
Police do not believe Ryann Tipton and Erin Jehl were romantically involved.
Bart Heller’s Facebook profile, as well as his post, has since been removed by Facebook.
However, Saturday afternoon, Nancy Lopez saw the posting and panicked.
Nancy Lopez told WANE TV she had never met Bart Heller. He sent her a friend request on the social network saying he wanted to get to know people from different parts of the country.
Their interactions were brief and rare.
“They were just more like, <<Hi. How are you?>>. That kind of thing. We never talked serious,” Nancy Lopez said.
It’s unclear how long Bart Heller dates Erin Jehl or what drove the shooting. However, there was a significant age gap between the two.
