Police Investigate Deaths of Couple Found in Rockville, Md., Condo

Montgomery County detectives are investigating the suspicious deaths of a man and woman in their 70s whose bodies were found yesterday in their condominium in downtown Rockville.

No significant sign of trauma was found on either body, and no sign of a break-in was found in the apartment, a county police spokesman said.

Rockville Police Capt. Bob Rappoport said the deaths might have resulted from a double suicide or a murder-suicide. Newspapers had piled up outside the apartment since July 3, a law enforcement source said.

Property records list the apartment's owners as Darrah L. Elkins, 77, and Anna C. Elkins, 76. Public employment records list Darrah Elkins as a former D.C. police officer.

The apartment, at 122 Monroe St., is part of a complex that is within walking distance of restaurants and shops. About 11 a.m. yesterday, Rockville city police were called to check on the occupants' welfare. A manager for the complex let the officers in, and they discovered the bodies, Rappoport said. The couple had not been heard from in several days, he said.

A law enforcement source said the bodies were found on the floor.

The Elkinses paid $38,000 for the third-floor apartment in 1975, according to property records. In 1983, the State of Maryland filed a lien and judgment for unpaid taxes against the couple totaling $2,203.68, according to Montgomery County Circuit Court records. The couple had paid off the lien by 1986, according to court records.

The couple paid off the mortgage on their apartment Feb. 4, 2002. Little more could be immediately learned about the couple.

Yesterday, police did not release the identities of the man and woman found in the apartment because they were still trying to notify relatives about the deaths.

Outside the condominium, police evidence technicians could be seen gathering equipment from their vans and going in and out of the apartment building. On the back balcony, a detective was looking through a Rolodex.

Albert Andrawos, 25, a resident of the complex, said it is popular with older residents because it is so close to the shops and restaurants. "The elderly people here, they love it," he said. "They don't to want to go into nursing homes."

Staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report