Woman killed in murder-suicide remembered as ‘a light in everybody’s life’

Coworkers and family of two San Luis Obispo County real estate agents were in disbelief Friday at news of their deaths in an apparent murder-suicide Thursday night in Grover Beach.

Officials suspect Ronald Rawlinson, 63, of Pismo Beach shot and killed 58-year-old Dana Neece of Grover Beach in her home before turning the gun on himself, according to the Grover Beach Police Department. Both were real estate agents with Century 21 Hometown Reality in Arroyo Grande, according to president and CEO Jack Hardy. Grover police Comdr. Angelo Limon said the two had been dating for about a year.

“My reaction was shock — just disbelief,” Hardy said Friday in a phone interview with The Tribune. “Dana Neece is a wonderful, sweet woman and just a joy to be around. We’re all just in disbelief that this happened.”

Officers responded to Neece’s home in the 1100 block of St. John Circle about 9:50 p.m. Thursday after a relative doing a welfare check on Neece found the bodies and called 911, according to Limon. A loaded 9 mm handgun was found at the scene, officials said.

Grover Beach Police and the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office investigated the incident and determined the woman was a homicide victim, a news release said.

Neece had worked as a real estate professional for more than 13 years, and spent the past three years serving nearly every city in San Luis Obispo County, according to her bio on the Century 21 website.

“She was a light in everybody’s life,” Hardy said. “She was part of the real estate family.”

Hardy said Rawlinson had been working with the company for more than a year but that he didn’t know him well.

This story was originally published October 27, 2017 at 7:31 PM with the headline "Woman killed in murder-suicide remembered as ‘a light in everybody’s life’."