Inver Grove Heights police responded to a welfare-check call for a single person on the 3200 block of 78th Street East and instead found three people dead inside the residence. Officers arrived to check on one individual before discovering all three bodies, and a large police presence has since gathered at the scene.
According to FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul, which first reported the discovery, police say there is no active threat to the public despite the scale of the response. The station reports that the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is providing assistance at the scene, a resource the Minnesota Department of Public Safety says typically includes specialized homicide agents, crime scene teams and forensic laboratory support for local departments handling major death investigations.
Key details remain unknown as the investigation unfolds. As Bring Me The News reports, law enforcement has not disclosed whether the three deceased were residents of the home or said what suspected causes of death investigators are looking into. Per the FOX 9 report, the medical examiner will be responsible for identifying the three people and determining their cause of death.
A Second Death Investigation in Two Weeks
The case adds to a string of recent public safety incidents in Inver Grove Heights, a Dakota County suburb of roughly 35,900 residents located about nine miles southeast of Saint Paul, according to Census data compiled by Data Commons. Just twelve days earlier, Hoodline reported that a sheriff called a Mississippi River death very suspicious after 40-year-old Minneapolis resident Timothy Bryan Standish Jr. was found dead in the river near the city.
The Inver Grove Heights Police Department's Investigations Division, which handles major crimes and homicide cases, is led by Commander Sean Folmar, while the department overall is led by Chief Melissa Chiodo, according to the city's official municipal records. Chiodo is listed as the city's highest-paid municipal employee in 2026 public salary disclosures, with a base salary of $190,715, reflecting the city's investment in its top public safety post.
Prior Local Incidents Underscore Department's Reach
This is not the department's first high-profile response in recent memory. In September 2022, KARE 11 reported that Inver Grove Heights police arrested three suspects following a fatal home-invasion shooting on the 2100 block of 78th Court East, just blocks from the current scene. More recently, the department has also taken part in regional operations, including assisting the South Metro SWAT Team last December in apprehending a suspect wanted for a high-profile suburban shooting.
Not every recent incident involving the department has centered on homicide investigations. Hoodline also reported this summer that an officer accidentally discharged a weapon during a pre-dawn traffic stop, striking a car tire and triggering an internal administrative review. Authorities have not indicated any connection between that incident and the current investigation.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact Inver Grove Heights police at (651) 450-2530. Authorities continue to investigate the deaths, and no further details about the victims or the circumstances inside the home have been released.
