Donald McRoberts

A grandson apparently called police Tuesday night to say he wasn't able to reach the couple by phone and had no car to drive to their home to check on them himself. So he asked police for a "welfare check." Nathaniel Jones, a nephew of the couple, and neighbors identified them as Donald and Kathy McRoberts. Jonathan Bates lives a few doors down from the couple's trailer and has worked at a nearby Casey's convenience store for about a year. He said Donald Roberts was a regular customer at the store, often picking up cigarettes and beer. He said McRoberts stopped by the store around 2 p.m. Monday, just hours before police found the couple dead. Someone was in the backseat of their car, Bates said, but he wasn’t sure who. Bates said Donald McRoberts was a frequent church volunteer. “Donald was a vet. Who wants to kill a vet?” he said. “He gave so much back to his community.” Brianna Harris, who has lived in the trailer across from the couple for about three years, said they were kind people who would bring her cat food. “They were good people,” she told the Post-Dispatch. “I was devastated because they were older, and they didn’t deserve that. They kept to themselves most of the time.” Chris Roth said he has lived in the neighborhood for 33 years and the McRoberts had lived there for about a decade. He said he got to know Donald Roberts, who he said was retired from the Army, when they were both volunteering at a food pantry. Roth described the neighborhood as quiet, with little police activity and no violent crime. He said Donald McRoberts liked drinking beer on his porch and never seemed to get angry. “He certainly gave back a lot, Roth said. "For that to happen is a travesty."