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Former Owner of ‘Home Alone’ House Found Dead Just Days After Arrest for Possession of Child Sex Abuse Material
John Abendshien, the former owner of the house where Home Alone was filmed, was found dead just days after he was arrested on multiple charges of possession of child sexual abuse material.
The 79-year-old’s body was discovered in a Lake Forest, Ill., nature preserve. The cause of death was “asphyxia in a manner consistent with being self-inflicted,” according to local authorities, per NBC Chicago.
Abendshien had been charged with seven felonies, including three counts of possession of child sexual abuse material, a class 2 felony, and four counts of possession of child sexual abuse material, a class 3 felony, Lake Forest Police stated in a statement shared on Facebook.
He was released on bail on April 17, five days before his body was found, police say.
The former healthcare strategist owned the house at 671 Lincoln Ave. in the affluent Chicago suburb of Winnetka, Ill., that was featured in Home Alone. The beloved 1990 flick starred Macaulay Culkin as 8-year-old Kevin McCallister, who fends off two bumbling home invaders played by Daniel Stern and Joe Pesci after his family leaves for vacation without him.
Abendshien, his then-wife Cynthia and his young daughter lived in the master suite, which was cordoned off while the film was being shot.
He later wrote a memoir, Home But Alone No More, about the experience — and about the hordes of tourists who began flocking to his quiet suburban neighborhood to see the landmark home.
He and Cynthia, who’d moved into the house in 1988, sold the five-bedroom, six-bathroom red-brick Georgian in 2012 for $1.585 million, according to Chicago Agent Magazine.
The 106-year-old house has changed hands twice since then, most recently last year, when it sold for $5.25 million, $250,000 over its original asking price, according to The New York Post.
The property was sold in May 2024 after only a week on the market, but per the terms of the sales agreement, the owners didn’t move out until seven months later.
They wanted to spend one more Christmas in the iconic home.
