Alex met Sam at nursery. They were first loves. They built forts together, shared sandwiches in high school, and were each other's first kiss.

They were the dream couple until Sam got into EDM music.

While Alex enjoyed folk, first loves are kind of like your current account. If they aren't working for you anymore,

maybe it's time to switch with the current account switch service.

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A death in the family. I'm Jason Horton. I'm Rebecca Leib. And this is Ghost Town.

Just seven miles west of downtown Chicago is Gage Park. A grandiose melting pot founded in 1840 by the Gage family.

The area welcomed Germans, Polish, Lithuanians, Czech immigrants. As Gage Park grew, the city of Chicago annexed the burgeoning township,

making it one of the more dynamic and diverse communities in its orbit. But organized crime among other complicated community issues soon seeped in, creating a climate for what we're talking about today.

A brutal string of homicides that forever changed the identity of the area. Today we're talking about the Gage Park murders.

Community was what brought the Martinez family to Gage Park. Their 62-year-old Noah Martinez and his 58-year-old wife, Rosora Martinez, had a network of friends and family around every corner.

Rosora and Noah had two children, 38-year-old Noah Martinez Jr. and 32-year-old Maria Martinez, who grew up in Gage Park and started their own families there.

Maria had two children, 13-year-old Leonardo Cruz and 10-year-old Alexi Cruz, and was still in good terms with her ex-husband who was the father of her two children.

Maria's ex-husband's nephew, if you're following, was 22-year-old Diego Uribe Cruz, a frequent guest at the Martinez family home at 57-08 South California Avenue.

He came over to hang out, play video games, and have meals with his aunt and young cousins.

It was kind of an ideal situation in a lot of ways, family bonding together and creating a network of close-knit, community across many generations.

Until February 4, 2016, it was then the Chicago Fire Department received a call from a co-worker of Noah Martinez Jr. The co-worker was concerned, his usually punctual and responsible friend and colleague hadn't shown up to work in two days.

Police dispatcher said he would send officers in the fire department by the Martinez home just to check.

A short time later, the Chicago Fire Department and Chicago PD arrived at 57-08 South California Avenue to perform a wellness check on Noah Martinez Jr. and his family.

Before the police entered the house, an officer glanced through the window and saw the legs of an unresponsive person barely protruding from the floor behind a couch.

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