17-year-old Cassandra Bjorge and boyfriend Johnny Ryder (19 years old) were arrested Sunday 9, 2017 for the murder of Bjorge’s grandparents. After family reported not hearing from Randall and Wendy Bjorge for a week, the Gwinnett County Police decided to conduct a wellness check up. Due to respect for the privacy of the residents, the police did not force an entry after no one responded to the door.
After Ryder’s sister and her boyfriend claimed to have been beaten up with a baseball bat by Johnny for no apparent reason, the police returned to their home. Now, with reasons to believe the couple might be endangered, the police entered the Bjorges’ home. The scene the police walked into was unexpected. Wendy and Randall Bjorge, both 63, appeared to have been beaten to death in their home in Furlong run, Lawrenceville.
The search for Bjorge and her boyfriend Ryder intensified as the police tracked them down to McGinnis Ferry Apartments. The couple was hiding inside the apartment complex. Police and SWAT surrounded the place in an standoff that lasted an hour.The young couple was found with self-inflicted wounds that are believed to have been suicide attempts. At the time the police entered the apartment, Bjorge and Ryder were unconscious and their wound had been inflicted with a knife. Bjorge and Ryder were transferred to a hospital to recover from their injuries.
The couple is expected to make a full recovery, and though they have not been charged with homicide, Ryder will be facing assault charges for the beating he inflicted on his sister and her boyfriend.
According to court documents, Randall and Wendy Bjorge had won custody of Cassandra in 2016. The teenager’s parents’ whereabouts remain unknown.
Cassandra Bjorge was a “habitual runaway” as known by the officers that found the Bjorge’s car.
The 17-year-old had been reported missing several times, including December 18, when missing person posters were distributed. Cassandra ran away again on April 1st, as reported by her grandmother.
The 63-year-old grandmother had reported Cassandra’s return on the 5th of April, just before the family lost communication with the now deceased victim.
