Navy Dentist Murdered By Naturalist Ex In Lake Forest: Coroner

LAKE FOREST, IL — The woman who was murdered in downtown Lake Forest Wednesday morning has been identified as Claire VanLandingham. Investigators believe the 27-year-old woman was killed by Ryan Zike, 33, a man she had dated the previous year, according to the Lake County coroner's office.

VanLandingham, a Lake Forest resident, graduated in 2017 from the University of Louisville School of Dentistry, according to her social media profiles. She was an active-duty sailor and worked beside Naval Station Great Lakes. Both began new jobs in the North Shore in 2017, VanLandingham at the Lovell Federal Health Care Center in North Chicago and Zike with the Park District of Highland Park.

VanLandingham was found shot several times in a parking lot beside a Dunkin Donuts across from the Lake Forest Metra station around 7:15 a.m., according to witnesses. She was taken to Lake Forest hospital where she was pronounced dead as a result of multiple gunshot wounds.

Lake County Coroner Dr. Howard Cooper said the preliminary results of an autopsy conducted on Zike show he died from a "possible" self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

“Both families have been notified and our deepest condolences go out to them. This is truly an awful tragedy,” he added.

_{Claire VanLandingham, 27}

Cooper said the matter was still under investigation but it was considered an "isolated incident" with no danger to the community.

Lake Forest police said a single gun was found at the scene and described the motive as "domestic related."

According to the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force, VanLandingham and Zike were in a romantic relationship that ended around early October 2017.

Zike, a Louisville native, posted on social media that he was dating VanLandingham in March 2017. He was named a naturalist at the Heller Nature Center in September 2017, according to the Park District of Highland Park. A spokesperson for the district said he resigned the following month. He previously worked at the Jefferson Memorial forest in Kentucky, where a biography describes him as having an "extreme passion" for the outdoors.

Police said his last known address in Illinois appeared to be with VanLandingham, and he has been in Kentucky since October 2017.

According to the American Psychological Association, 74 percent of all murder-suicide involved intimate partners, and three women are murdered every day in the U.S. by their husbands or boyfriends.

_{Ryan Zike, 33}

» More: 2 Dead in Downtown Lake Forest Shooting

_{Top photo: Investigators from the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force Jan. 3, 2018 in Lake Forest | Jonah Meadows}