Wisc. Newlyweds a Week Shy of Anniversary Found Fatally Shot in Car By KC Baker

A Wisconsin couple just shy of celebrating their one-year wedding anniversary was found dead in a car stopped on the road with its hazard lights on, according to police.

Just before midnight on Monday, Oct. 6, an officer with the Harvard Police Department in Illinois pulled over to check out a car that was stopped on Route 14 northbound near Burbank St. for a possible motorist assist, the department said in a news release.

When the officer approached the car, he found a woman in the driver’s seat and a male passenger dead inside, per the release.

The couple has since been identified by the coroner as Rachel Dumovich, 29, and Brandon Dumovich, 30 — both of Sharon, Wisc., according to Lake & McHenry County Scanner, NBC 5 Chicago and the Kansas City Star.

The couple got married on Oct. 12, 2024, according to their wedding page on The Knot.

In the “Our Story” section of the page, Rachel said she and Brandon met in middle school when they were both 12. “I caught Brandon’s attention by stealing cologne from his locker and running away with it,” she wrote.

After staying friends for 15 years, they started dating in 2022, she wrote, adding that Brandon proposed in the summer of 2023 on Big Cedar Lake in Slinger — a place she had spent many happy years at her grandparents’ home.

“We can’t wait to share the next chapter of our love story surrounded by our friends and family,” she wrote.

A preliminary investigation revealed that each of the victims sustained a single gunshot wound, according to police. A firearm was recovered inside the vehicle.

Initially, police issued an alert to residents advising them of a heavy police presence in the area and to remain sheltered in place. 

“It was later determined there was no ongoing threat to the community,” police said in the release.

The case remains under active investigation. 

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Harvard Police Department at (815) 943-4431 or provide information anonymously through the Crime Stoppers hotline at (815) 943-4343 or via email at [email protected].