Steve Groene, father of kids slain by killer, dies at 62

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho (AP) - Steve Groene, the father of a northern Idaho family whose children fell prey to a serial murderer in 2005, died early Monday of cancer. He was 62.

Groene, a former blues-rock singer, lived in Coeur d'Alene. He had previously lost his vocal cords during a long battle with throat cancer, and relatives said his death was from lung cancer.

Groene and his family were thrust into the public eye in 2005 when serial murderer and pedophile Joseph Edward Duncan III broke into the family's home, killing 13-year-old Slade Groene, his mother Brenda Groene and her boyfriend Mark McKenzie before kidnapping the two youngest children.

Duncan kept the two children for weeks in the Montana wilderness before he killed 9-year-old Dylan Groene. Duncan was later captured in Coeur d'Alene, and Steve Groene's 8-year-old daughter Shasta was rescued.

Duncan was sentenced to death in federal court for the crimes. He remains in a federal prison in Indiana.