Neighbor reacts to three found dead in Nueva Lisboa residence

NEW LISBON, Wis. — An adult and two minors have died in New Lisbon. Police found the bodies at a residence Monday night.

“I rushed, ran into my house, locked the doors, turned off all the lights, turned off the TV and hid in the bathroom with my dog,” said neighbor Kristina Johnson.

Johnson and other neighbors told News 3 they didn’t think much about the police presence on W. Bridge Street at first.

“I had seen the police.” “So I walked out my front door and I was being a nosy neighbor.” “I thought it was a drug bust or someone had been arrested.”

But when they learned that the presence was because three people in the house behind me were dead, they were terrified.

“So I was standing here watching and I got a text from my girlfriend saying, ‘Hey, there’s been a murder in New Lisbon.’ Close your doors. They haven’t caught the suspect yet,'” Johnson said.

The person of interest is 47-year-old Virgil Thew. Police say he weighs approximately 150 pounds and is 5’10” tall and was last seen wearing a dark coat, blue jeans and a hat.

Police call him armed and dangerous.

“It’s extremely disconcerting.” “When I found out there was a murder and he was on the loose, I was absolutely terrified,” Johnson said.

The bodies were found after a search for people that began Sunday night when the Juneau County Sheriff’s Office learned that a juvenile was missing.

That person was last seen with Thew.

On Monday, when the New Lisbon Police Department joined the search, it was learned that another juvenile was also missing.

The search for the pair led officers to W. Bridge Street.

Johnson, who has family that also lives in the city, says the entire community is closing their doors while they wait for more information.

“Everyone is terrified.”

Police remind people that if they see Thew, do not approach him and call 9-1-1 immediately.

Officials say the latest updates will be posted on the New Lisbon Police Department’s Facebook page.