A family from Illinois has been missing for two months after their drug-addicted father got out of jail and was allegedly seen telling a “clown mask” that he needed to k*ll his family.
Stephen Lutz, 44, who has multiple personality disorders, was released from jail on January 19 after being charged with several domestic battery crimes.
But he, his wife Monica, who is 34, and their two boys, Aiden, 11, and Nicholas, 9, haven’t been seen since February 10, when they were last seen at their home in Newton, Illinois.
Gia Wright of the Missing Persons Awareness Network (MPAN) says that Aiden told his grandmother, Mary-Jane, and sister, Brittany, 20, that he had seen his father tell a clown mask in his bedroom twice that he needed to “kill three people.” This was days before the family went missing.
Ms. Wright said that Aiden’s grandmother and sister told her that he had overheard his father talking to the clown and saying (exactly) the following:
I know what I have to do. I have to kill three people. I have to kill my wife first, then Aiden, then Nicholas.
When Mr. Lutz got out of jail, he had to follow strict rules that said he couldn’t talk to his wife or go to their house.
But on the afternoon of the day the family went missing, a U-Haul was seen at the house hooked up to Mr. Lutz’s pickup truck, but Ms. Wright says the family didn’t tell anyone they were leaving.
In Richmond, Indiana, family phones rang, but they were soon turned off.
Brittany, who doesn’t get along with her parents, said that the last time she talked to Aiden was the day they disappeared when he sent her a text message saying that the family was going on vacation.
Since 2006, Mr. Lutz has been in trouble with the law because of his use of Meth. Friends and family say that he showed signs of split personality disorder and had mental health problems, like paranoia, all his life.
When MPAN and the police checked their house on April 3, the windows were covered with sheets and no one was inside.
Ms. Wright said that the Lutz’s house was usually “spotless,” but that it now looked like a tornado had hit every part of it.
She said that the children’s clothes were still in their drawers and closets, and a suitcase was open on the parents’ bed, “as if someone was packing adult clothes and leaving it behind.”
The family cat was left outside, but it has since been brought back inside.
When the house was checked again on April 10, a gun with a silencer and a scope was found.
Since 2019, Aiden and Nicholas have been homeschooled.
Ms. Wright added:
They can be anywhere in the US. It may even be possible they crossed the US border, though there is no knowledge of that either way.
She told DailyMail.com that the day before the family went missing, Mr. Lutz took $10,000 from his mother Mary-Jane’s safe deposit box. She added:
He told her: “You’re never going to see me again.”
Ms. Wright said that their car’s license plate had been scanned in seven US states, mostly on the way west from Illinois, but that nothing had been recorded for a few weeks.
Police in Newton said there are no immediate signs that anyone in the family is in danger, but they are still taking the right steps.
