Genevieve Gribben

The murder-suicide was at a home in the 3000 block of Cambridge View Court. Police identified the victims Friday as 82-year-old Genevieve Gribben and 84-year-old James Gribben. St. Louis County police spokeswoman Vera Clay said officers discovered the couple around 4:30 p.m. Thursday when police were asked to check on their welfare. Both had been shot. An investigation remains active, but preliminary findings revealed that the man was the person firing the shots, Clay said. Police did not say how long the couple may have been dead. Cambridge View Court, off Heintz Road in South County, is a cul-de-sac with 17 homes. Patti Kappel, a neighbor, said Friday that the news was shocking and devastating, describing the couple as friendly people with good social lives who would help wrangle packages or trash cans during others’ vacations, and share treats from a local bakery, among other kind gestures that characterized their decade of living next door. “They were absolutely lovely people and wonderful neighbors,” said Kappel, adding that the couple went by Rosie and Jim. “It’s hard to even look at the house, anymore.” She described Rosie as especially outgoing, and “that kind of neighbor you could trust with anything you needed.” Kappel said Jim had been beset by recent health problems, such as back issues and severe pain, including from spills down some stairs, and that he didn’t venture outside much anymore, “like he used to.” He stopped tackling lawn care on his own about a year ago, she said. Still, “he didn’t give that indication of being that distressed,” said Kappel. “He obviously was dealing with more than any of us understood,” she added. “I’m also trying to figure out why he had to take both of them.” She last saw Rosie on Wednesday, and didn’t notice any commotion throughout the day on Thursday, until police cars swarmed the Gribbens’ home, later on. Kappel said some other neighbors reported hearing a couple loud noises — spaced about 20 minutes apart — that they didn’t know to be gunshots, shortly before police responded to the Gribbens’ house. Since hearing about what unfolded next door, Kappel said she’s been replaying things in her head, to see if there were any possible warning signs or pleas for help she might have missed. She said she and her husband were ready to help or intervene, if only they’d known anything were amiss. “I just wish there would’ve been some kind of distress call,” she said. “We would’ve been there to assist or do whatever we had to do.”