An elderly Le Sueur County couple was found dead Thursday following an apparent murder-suicide.

The bodies of Melvin Sagar, 86, and Natalie Sagar, 85, were discovered in their Tyrone Township home by Le Sueur County Sheriff’s deputies about 9:15 a.m.

Deputies went to the home after a county resident phoned authorities to report the couple hadn’t been seen for several days.

Preliminary investigation indicates Natalie Sagar shot her husband, then shot herself.

It appears the shooting took place five to seven days ago. The bodies were found in the kitchen.

Le Sueur County Sheriff David Gliszinski said a .22-caliber rifle appears to be the weapon used in the deaths of the childless couple.

Gliszinski said the couple moved to Le Sueur County from Eden Prairie in 1971.

Chief Deputy Sheriff Thomas Doherty, one of the investigators at the scene, said the Sagars were a private couple.

“They were pretty reclusive, kind of kept to themselves. The house was immaculate and completely secure (locked).”

A niece, Linda Glass of Redding, Calif., said Natalie Sagar had health issues.

“We thought she might be having the onset of Alzheimer’s, and she was in constant pain from a shoulder injury. She had lost the use of her right arm.”

The Ramsey County Medical Examiners Office is conducting autopsies on both. The Sagar home is about four miles northeast of Le Sueur.