Kelso deaths ruled as homicides, suicide

LONGVIEW — Officials announced Wednesday afternoon that the three dead family members discovered in a Kelso home Friday died of gunshot wounds — two from homicide and one from suicide.

Isaac A. Beam, 29, of Kelso, died of a gunshot wound to the head, while Mark A. Beam, 75, of Kelso, and Candice J. Beam, 74, of Kelso, died from “multiple gunshot wounds,” according to a press release by Cowlitz County Coroner Dana M. Tucker.

Isaac A. Beam’s death was ruled a suicide, and the elder Beams’ deaths were ruled as homicides.

Kelso police and the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office found the bodies after responding to a home around noon Friday in the 700 block of North Seventh Avenue after receiving a complaint regarding a domestic dispute involving a firearm.

Kelso police report in a press release that Mark and Candice Beam were Isaac’s grandparents, and “there is no evidence or reason to believe any other parties were involved.”

The release says the department is continuing to investigate to determine motive and other factors that contributed to the deaths; they have not ruled whether the grandparents were killed with intent or not.

Terry Buchanan, formerly of Northwest Enforcement — the company that provides security at HOPE Village in Longview — said he and Isaac Beam worked as security guards at the open-air facility, and on the day of the shooting Isaac Beam quit his job and went home, where he lived with his grandparents.