PUBLIC SAFETY

Mom booked on murder in Amber Alert deaths of 2 children

Holly V. Hays, and Vic Ryckaert
IndyStar
Rene Pasztor, 6, and Liliana Hernandez, 7

Update, 3:55 p.m.: Autopsies revealed that the causes of death for Liliana Hernandez, 7, and Rene Pasztor, 6, was asphyxiation, according to the Elkhart County Coroner's Office. Both deaths have been ruled homicides.

Earlier 3:49 p.m.: A Fort Wayne mother has been booked on murder charges in connection with the deaths of her children, records show, while police located the body of a man who may have accompanied the woman.

Amber Susan Pasztor, 29, was held without bond in the Elkhart County Jail.

Pasztor has been linked to the deaths Monday of Liliana Hernandez, 7, and Rene Pasztor, 6.

It was not clear Tuesday if Pasztor might be connected to the death of a man whose body was found in an Allen County woods Monday.

Amber Pasztor

Police have not said if the body was that of Frank Macomber, 65. Fox59 reported that investigators thought Macomber may have been traveling with Pasztor after she took her children early Monday, prompting a statewide Amber Alert.

Pasztor, who did not have custody of her children, abducted the siblings from a Fort Wayne location about 6:21 a.m., police said.

The alert was called off after Pasztor parked near the Elkhart Police Department about 5:25 p.m. and told an officer there were bodies in her car. The children's bodies were in the back seat, the Elkhart Truth reported.

Police believe the children are Hernandez and Rene Pasztor, however a formal identification will be released by the coroner's office.

Pasztor is scheduled to appear on Wednesday before an Elkhart County magistrate for a probable cause hearing, the Elkhart County prosecutor's office told IndyStar.

Formal charges were expected later this week.

Autopsies on the children's bodies were conducted Tuesday in Kalamazoo, Mich., the Elkhart County Chief Deputy Coroner James Elliott told IndyStar.

Call IndyStar reporter Holly Hays at (317) 444-6156. Follow her on Twitter: @hollyvhays.

Download the IndyStar Mobile Apps