Murder/suicide rocks Effie community

According to Avoyelles Parish Sheriff Doug Anderson at about 8:50 p.m. Wednesday night deputies responded to a residence on La. 1196 in the Effie Community to a reported shooting. Deputies located the bodies of two apparently deceased individuals laying in a field behind the residence in which they had been staying.The deceased were identified as Ryan Recktenwald 28 years old and his 7 year old daughter Madeline Recktenwald. According to friends of the deceased, the Recktenwalds had been living with them for a period of time and believed that Ryan Recktenwald was depressed over several personal issues. The Recktenwalds left the home earlier in the evening without notice causing their friends to become concerned. They later heard gunshots near the home which caused them to search for the pair subsequently finding them in a field near their home apparently deceased.

Investigators say it appears that Ryan Recktenwald shot his daughter Madeline 3 times with a 9mm semi-auto pistol killing her before turning the gun on himself and firing 1 shot into his chest. The pair were pronounced dead at the scene by the Avoyelles Parish Coroner, Dr. L. J. Mayeux.

Sheriff Anderson said, “The hopelessness and helplessness that people experience causing them to believe that their death is the only option is a tragedy.” “The loss of a life so young and the destruction of a family is devasting to all members of a community.”