Banks, Crime, Mountaindale

Sheriff’s Office: Two dead near Banks in apparent murder-suicide

Two people were found dead in a vehicle on Highway 26 outside of Banks early Wednesday morning, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office said. 

Deputies first responded to a vehicle parked alongside westbound Highway 26 near Mountaindale Rd. around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday. Inside a 2012 black Nissan Altima were two bodies. 

An investigation by detectives with the county’s Violent Crimes Unit and the Forensic Science Unit led the sheriff’s office to believe that a murder-suicide.

“The investigation appears to show Alejandro Gomez-Blanco, age 46 of Beaverton, shot and killed his wife, Yolanda Constantino, age 44 of Beaverton, before turning the gun on himself,” the county said in a press release issued Wednesday afternoon. 

A gun was found in the vehicle. 

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The investigation continues, and family members of the deceased were notified. 

The highway was closed for more than six hours.

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