How Police Identified Ex-Husband Suspect in Ohio Dentist and Wife’s Murders

The suspect in the deaths of Ohio couple Spencer and Monique Tepe, who were found slain in their home on Dec. 30, was identified by police due to a specific detail.

According to court documents obtained by PEOPLE, Columbus detectives identified Michael David McKee, the 39-year-old ex-husband of Monique, as a suspect after tracking his vehicle through neighborhood surveillance near the home, where Monique, 39, and Spencer, 37, were found dead.

Detectives noted in the court documents that McKee’s car “arrived just prior to the homicides and left shortly after,” and that they were able to identify the vehicle and link it to McKee. The car was later located in Rockford, Ill., and officers said they found evidence that McKee had been in ownership of the vehicle throughout the incident.

McKee was arrested on Saturday, Jan. 10, and charged with two counts of murder, according to Franklin County Municipal Court documents obtained by PEOPLE.

A warrant was initially issued earlier on Saturday for McKee’s arrest. Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office records show that McKee was booked shortly before 12 p.m. local time. He is set to be extradited to Franklin County, where he has a hearing scheduled for Jan. 12.

Monique and Spencer, a dentist, were found dead after a work colleague of the latter’s grew concerned when Spencer did not show up for work and after one co-worker had tried in vain to contact him for three hours, per 911 call recordings obtained by PEOPLE.

A friend of the couple had also made several 911 calls for a welfare check on the couple and told dispatchers that he could hear their children, ages 1 and 4, crying inside the home.

Officers arrived at the home and pronounced Monique and Spencer deceased at the scene, the Columbus Division of Police said, according to an incident report reviewed by PEOPLE.

Nearly a week later, Columbus police released surveillance footage of a person they said was of interest to investigators.

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The video showed a hooded figure with their face obscured, walking calmly in a snowy alleyway near the couple’s home around the timeframe authorities estimated the Tepes were killed, police said in an update. It is unclear if the person in the video was McKee.

The Office of Coroner Nathaniel R. Overmire at the Franklin County Forensic Science Center told PEOPLE the apparent causes of death for Monique and Spencer were gunshot wounds. However, official causes of death for the couple have yet to be released, pending other details required for the coroner’s determination, such as toxicology reports, the coroner’s office explained.

Following the news of Spencer and Monique’s deaths, family members have remembered the couple for their warmth, kindness and dedication to building a life “rooted in love,” and also for their dedication to being great parents to their children.

“We are heartbroken beyond words,” Spencer’s brother-in-law, Rob Misleh, told PEOPLE in a statement, adding that the family is “committed to seeing this tragedy fully and fairly brought to justice.”