I just got a frantic call from my stepdad asking me to go online and check a news site. He'd heard a story about a murder/suicide and thought we knew them. We did. And it's worse than he thought. The father killed his wife, his two kids and himself. He was our inspector.

When you buy a house, you need to have inspections done to make sure you aren't buying a money pit. Mr. Belding was the man we called. In this business of people you don't want to have anything to do with, Mr. Belding was an exception. He was such a genial man, it was always a pleasure to do business with him. I never got that teeth-grinding, stomach churning feeling I get when I have to call most of the other people we deal with. He would talk about his kids all the time. He spent a lot of time with him. This is such a tragedy. I have no idea what could have made him do this.

I called him just the other day to see if he would do an inspection for us. He never answered either of his phone lines and didn't return the calls, which was quite unlike him. I figured he was on vacation, but as it turns out, he was already dead along with his wife and children. I simply can't believe it. He loved his children. I can't imagine he was having money problems because his prices for inspections were so reasonable.

I'm sorry for how disjointed this post is. I feel kind of numb and hysterical at the same time as well as sick to my stomach. All of the stupid things run through your head - like I could have done something. I know I couldn't have because I didn't know, but what if one of us missed doing one thing that could have prevented this? I know it's dumb. But when I remember him talking about his kids... I just don't know. Pray for their families. They were supposed to visit them for Thanksgiving. This has got to be a nightmare for them.