Spencer and Monique Tepe were found shot dead in their Columbus home with two children unharmed inside
The wife of an Ohio dentist who was later killed did not place a 911 call reporting a “domestic dispute” months before their deaths, a family member said. The call was made by someone attending a house party the couple was hosting, he said.
Police said they responded to the Columbus, Ohio house around 10 a.m. on Dec. 30, when they found Spencer Tepe, 37, and Monique Tepe, 39, both dead with apparent gunshot wounds. Two young children were located inside the house unharmed. Police don’t believe their deaths were a murder-suicide, adding there were no signs of forced entry and no weapon was found, according to WSYX. Detectives believe the murders happened between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. on Dec. 30.
Fox News Digital obtained a 911 call placed by an unknown woman at the same house where Spencer and Monique were killed. In the 911 call, made on April 15, 2025 at 2:45 a.m., the woman told the operator, “me and my man got into it.” She could be heard crying while she was talking to the 911 operator and eventually said she didn’t need police officers to come.
While a name wasn’t included in the dispatch logs, Spencer’s brother-in-law Rob Misleh told the “Surviving the Survivor” podcast that the person who called 911 was “not Monique,” but someone who attended one of their house parties.
Spencer and Monique Tepe were found dead on Dec. 30. (Rob Misleh)
“So first off, if you listen to the voice, it’s quite clearly not Monique. Everybody has seen the wedding video and has heard Monique talk and it’s obviously not Monique who’s calling. Furthermore, I’ve been very outstated that Spencer and Monique had people over a lot.”
“I think sometimes at these parties, people get a little too drunk,” he added. “And from multiple people that I’ve talked to that were at this party have all stated, yes, we remember this happening. Somebody, the woman had just a little bit of a freak-out for lack of a better term. Maybe, you know, was having some mental health issues at the time. But she called the cops from her cellphone.”
Misleh said, “she was at this party and she just had kind of a lapse psychologically, I think at the time.”
Read a transcript of the call below:
Operator: “Hi, this is 911. We just got a hang-up call. Is everything OK?”
Female voice: “Yeah, I’m sorry. I’m OK.”
Operator: “Are you sure?”
Female voice: “Yeah, yeah, I’m OK, sorry.”
Operator: “Well, it sounds like you’re crying. Do you need police, paramedics or anything?”
Female voice: “No, no. No, I’m OK. I promise. I’m just emotional. [inaudible]”
Operator: “Well, can I ask what had you called 911 in the first place?”
Female voice: “Because me and my man got into it, but I’m OK, I promise.”
Operator: “Did anything ever get physical?”
Female voice: [Crying] “No.”
Operator: “You guys were just arguing, nobody hit each other?”
Female voice: “M’hm, yes.”
Operator: “Well, I have the information here. I can go ahead and tell the officers to cancel heading over to your address…If anything changes, call us back.”
Female voice: “Yes, yes, yes, I’m sorry…OK, I’m sorry.”
A dispatcher at the Columbus Emergency Communications Center coded the call as a “domestic dispute,” later writing that assistance was “no longer needed.”
While a suspect in the deaths of Spencer and Monique hasn’t been arrested, the Columbus Division of Police on Monday evening released surveillance video showing a “person of interest” walking in the alley near the Tepes’ residence in the early morning hours of Dec. 30.
Spencer and Monique Tepe were preparing to celebrate their five-year wedding anniversary. (Rob Misleh)
The video showed a man walking slowly in an alley near the Weinland Park home where Spencer and Monique lived. He’s seen in what appears to be a dark coat and light-colored pants.
Spencer’s employer, Mark Valrose, who owns Athens Dental Depot, was the first person to call 911 and requested a welfare check after the dentist didn’t show up to work.
At 10:03 a.m., one of Spencer’s friends went to the Tepes’ house and told a 911 operator that he could see a body inside.
“There’s a body,” the person can be heard saying. “Our friend wasn’t answering his phone. We just did a wellness check. We just came here and he appears dead. He’s laying next to his bed, off of his bed in this blood. I can’t get closer to see more than that.”
Spencer and Monique Tepe pictured on their wedding day. (Rob Misleh)
In a statement released Friday, the couple’s family said they are “heartbroken beyond words,” and called the deaths “tragic and senseless.”
“They were extraordinary people whose lives were filled with love, joy, and deep connection to others,” read the statement. “Spencer, a graduate of The Ohio State University, was known as a devoted and proud father, a loving partner, and a friend to everyone he met,” the family statement said, adding that he was “intelligent, warm, and endlessly welcoming.”
Spencer and Monique Tepe pictured in wedding photos. (Rob Misleh)
Monique was described by family members as a “loving, patient and joyful mother whose warmth defined her.”
Rob Misleh, Spencer’s brother-in-law, told WSYX that the couple was going to celebrate their five-year anniversary next month after getting married in 2021.
