THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, February 21, 1995 TAG: 9502210299
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: KILL DEVIL HILLS LENGTH: Long : 103 lines
Delaware bank employee Douglas John Mont had always been on time when returning their three children to his estranged wife after daylong visits.
When he was three hours late Saturday, Nancy Mont was concerned.
Her worries, it turned out, were tragically justified.
The bodies of her three children - Catrina, 9, Daniel, 6, and Theresa, 4 - were found here Sunday in the charred remains of a Ford van at First Flight Airport. Eleven hours later and 186 feet to the east, their father shot himself to death as officers approached him.
Mont apparently had shot each of his three children in the head at close range with what police sources said was a .357-caliber Magnum handgun. Then, about 1:30 a.m. Sunday, he set the dark green 1993 Aerostar ablaze in the airport parking lot.
How the fire was started has not been determined. Nor was there any word on why Mont, 35, drove to this resort community about 200 miles from his home in Delaware.
Nancy Mont and the children lived in Seaford, Del., and he lived in nearby Frankford.
She called police Saturday night when the children had not been returned at 5 p.m. as scheduled.
``There had never been a problem with him bringing the kids back before, so she didn't even ask where he was taking them,''Delaware State Police Cpl. Preston Lewis said by phone. ``He'd always brought them back on time before.''
Monday afternoon, authorities released results of the autopsies and other details of the tragedy, which stunned this oceanfront community of about 4,200.
About noon Sunday, two law enforcement officers spotted Mont lying on his stomach in a wooded area.
The officers told Mont to keep his hands where they could see them, said Police Chief James H. Gradeless. Without a word, Mont lifted his right hand into the air, put the handgun to his head with his left, and fired. He died instantly.
Gradeless said authorities are uncertain how Mont spent the 11 hours between the deaths of his children and his suicide. However, footprints matching his shoes were found in the wooded area.
When Mont picked up the children at 9 a.m. Saturday, he was wearing a green jacket, blue jeans and a dark sweater. The couple had been separated since August, and he had daytime visitation rights. He worked at the Millsboro Branch of First Omni Bank of Delaware.
Sources said Mont left a message at the bank Saturday morning saying he was quitting. Because of the Presidents Day holiday Monday, bank officials were not available for comment.
Catrina, a fourth-grader at Frederick Douglass Intermediate School, was wearing dark purple pants, a light purple shirt, a flowered yellow sweater and white sneakers, according to information the mother filed in a missing persons report at 8:24 p.m. Saturday.
Daniel, a first-grader at Central Elementary School, wore black sweatpants, a matching sweatshirt and sneakers. Four-year-old Theresa, too young to go to school, wore a light blue sweat suit and pink and white sneakers.
Doug Boyd, a spokesman for the North Carolina medical examiner's office and the Pitt County Memorial Hospital in Greenville, said the children were identified through dental records, physical descriptions and clothing.
After the fire, police received a report from a resident that gunshots had been heard in the area late Saturday night, Gradeless said.
After Mont shot himself, police found that four bullets had been fired from his gun.
The fire in the van was so intense that it destroyed the license plate and partially obscured the vehicle identification number. Only the frame of the vehicle remained. The blackened hulk was taken to a police garage.
Authorities could find no links between the Monts and Dare County.
``We don't have any idea why they picked the Outer Banks,'' Lewis said. ``We're trying to investigate that local angle right now. So far, we have no clues as to why he chose that location.''
The airport is just west of the monument marking the Wright Brothers' first powered flight.
Gradeless said that there was no evidence of past criminal behavior by Mont. The Associated Press reported Monday that Nancy Mont accused her husband of abusing her in a court order that gave her custody of the children. However, police officials in Delaware said no charges had been filed against Douglas Mont. Officers here said there was no indication of alcohol or drug use by Mont.
Family members said late Monday that Nancy Mont was ``heavily medicated'' and ``not doing so well.''
Law enforcement officials in North Carolina and Delaware have been flooded with phone calls from across the country. Gradeless said his office has also received a number of calls from families and law enforcement agencies who are searching for missing children.
``We've had family members in tears calling us to find out anything they can,'' Gradeless said.
The slayings were the first in this community in 17 years. ILLUSTRATION: ROBIE RAY/Staff
Police say that Douglas John Mont shot his three children in the
head early Sunday before setting his 1993 Aerostar ablaze in the
parking lot of First Flight Airport in Kill Devil Hills.
STAFF MAP
KEYWORDS: MURDER SUICIDE SHOOTING FIRE by CNB