In law enforcement and media accounts, two of the four people killed earlier this week in a high-profile case in Maine were listed as Ocala residents. But Cynthia Eaton, 63, and her husband, David, 66, had moved to Auburndale some time ago, and more recently to Kansas, according to public records, family and friends.

The accused killer is their son Joseph, 34. He has been accused of killing his parents and two others before wounding three people on a highway in a case that has attracted national attention. Joseph Eaton remains jailed in Maine.

The shooting spree stunned people in Maine, including the little town of Bowdoin, where the bodies of the Eatons and their friends Patricia and Robert Eger were discovered by Patricia’s sister on April 18. Mike Sauschuck, commissioner of Maine Public Safety, called the shootings “an attack on the soul of our state.”

Shooting in Maine on I-295: Man fired on motorists after killing 4, including his parents

Earlier coverage: Live updates on shooting on I-295 in Maine

The Eatons had gone to Maine to pick up their son, who was released from prison on April 14 after serving a 2015 sentence for domestic violence. Cynthia Eaton met her son at the Maine Correctional Facility in Windham, according to the Maine State Police.

“They were good people,” said Cynthia’s stepfather, Kenneth W. Fagan Jr., who lives in Ocala. “They loved their kids. They were the best parents." Cynthia was his oldest stepdaughter.

He said the Eatons had lived in Auburndale, in Polk County, until a few months ago. They sold their home and moved to Kansas City, Kansas, to be with another son who lives there. They later may have moved to Wichita, Fagan said.

Property records show the Eatons bought the home Auburndale in 2011, paid it off by 2015 and sold it in July for $459,000.

Why did authorities list the Eatons as Ocala residents? Because that's the address on file, possibly from a driver's license, at a car rental operation at the Portland, Maine airport. David Eaton had rented a car there, according to the arrest affidavit in this case.

Police say that's the car Joseph Eaton was driving when he shot a family of three on Interstate 295. At that time − after the shooting deaths of his parents and their two friends − Joseph Eaton apparently thought police were trying to follow him.

Prison terms in Maine and Florida

Joseph Eaton has a long, troubled past. In 2014, his parents tried to persuade Maine authorities to release him to their custody to serve out his probation for a Maine crime. However, that plan did not work out because “his father refused to give up his guns.” Not having access to firearms was a condition of probation, the Bangor Daily News reported, quoting court documents.

Joseph Eaton eventually did move to Florida to be with his parents in 2017 after being released from prison for violating his probation on a domestic violence charge, the Daily News reported.

In January 2018, he was imprisoned in Florida for three years on aggravated assault on a law enforcement or rescue worker, according to the state Department of Corrections website. He was returned to Maine in 2021.

'What a crazy world we live in today'

News of the slayings touched others in Central Florida who knew the Eatons.

“I want to ask the group for prayers to my friend David Eaton and his wife and their two friends and the friends’ family dog as they were recently murdered in Maine two days ago. David was a longtime Harley owner (over 40 years) and longtime HOG member and officer,” Kim Paige, with New Smyrna Beach HOG Chapter 530701, wrote on Facebook.

“David and I served together in the Navy in the early 80's in Jacksonville where we were Flight Engineer instructors. I talked to him and his wife at a Navy reunion in 2021 in Maine, we talked about getting together for a ride,” he wrote.

“What a crazy world we live in today.”

The discovery of the bodies

Lisa Shea, Patti Eger’s sister, called police on April 18 at 9:21 a.m.

“She observed two drops of blood on the front steps,” according to the arrest affidavit.

“Lisa opened the door and yelled but no one answered. Lisa said she entered the home and could see broken glass and blood on the floor. She observed a body in the area of the kitchen covered by a towel,” the affidavit says.

She said she also saw several firearms lying about the house and saw drag marks. She left the home to call police.

The arrest affidavit said crime scene investigators found a note that stated, “someone had been molested and that there was nothing done about it. The note mentioned someone being freed of pain and that the writer of the note wanted a new life. The note was not written to anyone nor was it signed by anyone.”

Joseph Eaton left a rambling Facebook Live post asking for forgiveness and talking about people who pretend to be Christians.

The Sun Journal newspaper in Lewiston said the two couples had been friends for years, and that Patti had recently visited the Eatons in Florida.

Several cars were hit by gunfire on I-295. The three people injured were Sean Halsey, 51, Justin Halsey, 29, and Paige Halsey, 25.

This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Ocala connection to Maine shooting: Two of the victims once lived here