The 28-year-old woman who was allegedly abducted from work by her estranged husband in Pekin Monday was found dead yesterday in her car parked in the OSF St Francis deck. Peoria Public Radio’s Tanya Koonce reports her husband shot himself after about nine hours with Peoria Police.
Police say 45-year-old PhouvoneSophanavong may have parked his wife’s 2011 Toyota Corolla at OSF and walked back to his 703 NE Monroe Street address. Peoria Police Chief Steve Settingsgaard says they knew the outcome was possible.
Settingsgaard: "We spent a lot of time negotiating with him and had a lot of interaction and did our best to try and talk him out. He had indicated on may occasions he was considering killing himself. And he had done it several times throughout the day and evening, he had held the gun up to himself and threatened it and finally he did pull the trigger."
The Chief says Sophanavong shot himself after asking police negotiators for a moment alone. He says Sophanavone was immediately secured, taken to the waiting ambulance and rushed to the hospital.
His wife, Laongdao Phangthong took out an order of protection against her husband last month. She reported he threatened her life and his own after they separated in September.
Sophanavong reportedly left a suicide note with his wife.
Phangthong is the third woman killed in an act of domestic violence in Peoria this year.