CHICAGO — Officials released the names Thursday of the two children and three adults found dead with sharp-force injuries after a “domestic-related incident” in Buffalo Grove this week, as court records painted a picture of a turbulent divorce and financial issues for the couple in the home.
Neighbors remained stunned by the apparent killings, though police shared few details about the deaths in the Acacia Terrace house that officers had forced their way into Wednesday before making the gruesome discovery.
The dead include Lilia Kisliak, 67; Andrei Kisliak, 39; Vera Kisliak, 36; Vivian Kisliak, 6; and Amilia Kisliak, 4, Lake County Coroner Jennifer Banek said at a news conference. The four completed autopsies show the deaths occurred as a result of sharp-force injuries, Banek said.
An animal was also found dead at the home, Buffalo Grove Police Chief Brian Budds said at the news conference. There were no survivors, he added.
“Today is a very sad day for our community as we continue to process this unthinkable event,” Budds said.
A co-worker of Vera Kisliak had requested the well-being check, police said. The department will continue to investigate the deaths and share more information in coming days, Budds said.
Court records reveal that the family faced foreclosure and a contentious, ongoing divorce. Both Vera and Andrei Kisliak filed for divorce on July 8, records show. The last proceeding for their divorce was held Tuesday.
Vera Kisliak obtained an emergency order of protection against Andrei Kisliak on Sept. 14, and Buffalo Grove police arrested Andrei Kisliak on Sept. 30 for violating the protection order, additional court records reveal. He left Lake County Jail after posting a $5,000 bond, police records show. The violation case last went to court on Nov. 17, and another hearing was scheduled for Dec. 13.
Andrei Kisliak was also charged with criminal contempt of court on Sept. 14. He was scheduled to go to court again Dec. 12 after Deerfield police cited him for littering in early October. He had filed for an order of protection against Vera Kisliak in August, but his petition was denied.
On Nov. 9, mortgage lender Home Point Financial Corp. opened a foreclosure case on the Kisliak family’s 2830 Acacia Terrace home. The company alleged it had received no mortgage payments since July 2020, according to court records.
Legal filings indicate that Andrei Kisliak had multiple closed court cases. A representative from the Lake County Clerk of the Circuit Court said Thursday that some court records pertaining to Andrei were currently unavailable.
On Thursday morning, the street where officers had made the disturbing discovery was mostly quiet, with a few police cars parked near the scene and police tape surrounding the side of the house.
But by shortly after noon, a small collection of flowers had been placed outside the home, along with a teddy bear. One local woman stopped by on her way to get balloons and candles to set up a memorial.
She called police in August after seeing Andrei Kisliak yell at his children, then 4 and 6, said the woman, who asked not to be identified. The father had left the two girls alone at a local cafe’s bar and was hostile to them as he kept coming and going, recalled the woman, herself a mother of four.
Police officers arrived and talked to Andrei Kisliak, and he eventually left with his children, she said.
“It’s too late now and it all could have been prevented,” the woman said.
Vivian Kisliak was a student at Ivy Hall Elementary School in Buffalo Grove, according to a statement from Kildeer-Countryside District 96 Superintendent Kathryn Sheridan.
“It is with very heavy hearts that we report that one of those children — 6-year-old Vivian Kisliak — was a current D96 student at Ivy Hall Elementary School. The other child was her younger sibling, 4-year-old Amilia. Both girls were known to be happy and cheerful children,” the statement said. “Our hearts go out to all who knew them. Administrators describe Vivian as ‘a happy, cheerful kid who enjoyed coming to school. She loved unicorns and dancing.’”
The statement said that counseling services would be made available to staff and students.
“My heart aches for family and friends of the five victims of this horrific event. I ask the community to come together in mourning this tragic loss in our beloved town,” Buffalo Grove Village President Beverly Sussman said in a statement to the Chicago Tribune.
Neighbor Syed Ali said the neighborhood had felt peaceful when he moved there last year with his family. It seemed ideal, with kids running around, people jogging and players on the nearby golf course. But now that peace has been shattered, Ali said.
“We never expected something like this to happen in this area,” he said Thursday morning. The mother and two girls who lived in the house often walked up and down the block, he recalled. But the family mostly kept to themselves, he added.
Ali, whose daughter was born in March, said he was shocked by the news. “To hear that kids were involved … it was horrible,” he said. He said he often thought of his daughter growing up, befriending the young children and playing with them.
Three cars were parked Thursday morning outside the home, which has a semicircle driveway and three garage doors. The police tent set up outside the gray-brick home with a slanted roof line Wednesday night was gone.
Police had come to the house before, said another neighbor, who asked not to be named because of safety concerns.
“It’s heart-wrenching … It’s just devastating,” she said. “You just don’t think that’s gonna happen. Obviously, you never think it’s going to happen around here. But you also don’t know what’s going on in their lives.”
The house has a pool and a swing set in the backyard and there would often be people out there, the neighbor said.
That swing set, Ali said, is now an upsetting reminder of the two children who lost their lives.
(Freelancer Elizabeth Owens-Schiele contributed to this story.)
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