Man questioned in strangulations of mother, daughter near Gary

Detectives are questioning a man arrested in Ohio Sunday night with the car of an 86-year-old woman who was found strangled hours earlier in northwest Indiana along with her 63-year-old daughter, authorities said.

Police were asked to conduct a well-being check about 5:30 p.m. at the home Velia Teneff shared with her daughter Lana Teneff in the 2300 block of West 44th Avenue in unincorporated Calumet Township, according to the Lake County sheriff’s and coroner’s offices.

The younger woman was found strangled inside the home, and her mother was found dead with similar injuries in a home she owned next door in the 4400 block of Taft Street, authorities said.

Police tracked down Velia Teneff’s Cadillac using its GPS, which showed the car in a police impound lot in Montpelier, Ohio, authorities said. A 44-year-old man—who police said had done handiwork in the past for the Taneffs—had been arrested there that night on unrelated misdemeanor charges.

Lake County sheriff’s detectives were heading to Ohio Monday evening to question him.