Colo. Mom Who Said Intruder Killed 2 of Her Kids Now Under Arrest In London: 'She Seemed Like a Normal Mother'

Kimberlee Singler, 35, is accused of killing her two youngest children, 9 and 7, and trying to kill the oldest, 11, say police

Growing up in Colorado, Kimberlee Singler seemed to have a typical childhood.

“We did tons of sleepovers,” a longtime friend who asked not to be publicly identified tells PEOPLE. “We watched lots of movies together. She just was a fun person to hang out with.”

Singler had a great sense of humor, she says. “She'd make me laugh all the time. I was an easy laugh, but she is very, very funny.”

She didn’t open up that way with everyone, she notes. “Just to close friends. So she was definitely more to herself.”

The two remained friends throughout high school but lost touch after graduation.

So when she learned that her childhood friend, now 35, had been arrested in London on suspicion of killing her two youngest children and trying to murder her oldest child — a story that is featured in this week's issue of PEOPLE — she was stunned.

“It took my breath away,” she says. “I don't get it. It's a very sad thing.”

Another person who has known Singler for more than 5 years tells PEOPLE he was shocked when he heard the news. “I was definitely very surprised,” he says. “There's no doubt about that. I think it's something that's very hard to understand as a parent.”

“She seemed like a normal, loving mother,” he adds.

For more about Kimberlee Singler's case, subscribe now to PEOPLE or pick up this week's issue, on newsstands Friday.

On Dec. 19, 2023, Singler, a divorced single mom, called 911 to report a burglary at the condo where she lived with her three children.

Officers who arrived at 12:30 a.m. found Singler and her 11-year-old daughter wounded and her two youngest children, 9 and 7, dead inside the home.

Related: Inside the Bitter Custody Battle Before Colo. Mom Is Accused of Killing 2 Kids, Then Fleeing to London

Singler and her surviving daughter were treated for their injuries on the scene before they were taken to local hospitals for further treatment.

Authorities questioned Singler and as they continued to investigate, they determined that the initial report of a burglary was “unfounded,” the Colorado Springs Police Department said in a statement.

The last time anyone saw Singler was on Dec. 23, 2023, according to police.

Three days later, investigators obtained an arrest warrant for Singler on charges including four counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted murder, three counts of child abuse and one count of first-degree assault, police said in the statement.

She was arrested on Dec. 30 in the U.K. at a hotel in central London.

Singler remains in the U.K. and is reportedly fighting extradition. It is unclear whether she has retained an attorney who can speak on her behalf. She has not yet entered pleas to the charges.

Police have provided few details of the crime scene or what led them to charge Singler in connection with the deaths of her two children and the attempted murder of her oldest child. Lawyers for Singler's ex-husband, Kevin Wentz, 38, provided information about how the two had been embroiled in a battle over custody and visitation in recent years.

Wed in 2011, the couple filed for divorce in 2018, according to documents obtained by PEOPLE. Their divorce was finalized in 2020 but they were still allegedly arguing over custody.

In a statement released to the media, Jennifer Darby, one of Wentz's lawyers said, "There was a domestic relations case going" in regards to the case.

“As part of that custody case, the court ordered Kimberlee to bring the kids to their father on December 16th," Darby said in the statement.

"She did not show up, so on December 18th, Rex Harris filed an emergency motion with the court. The court ordered that she bring the children to Larimer County Court on December 20th, and the kids were killed on the 19th.”

A police spokesman would not comment on the custody case and would only say that investigators have “rolled it into our current investigation that now we’re not commenting on at this time.”

The details of the arrest warrant are currently sealed under court order and are expected to be unsealed at a later time, police said in the statement.

As police continue to investigate, residents are still trying to process how this could have happened.

“It’s a horrible situation,” says one Colorado Springs mother. “Those children went home for Christmas break and now those children are not coming back to school.”

A GoFundMe has been started to raise money for the Wentz family in the wake of the tragedy.

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