Columbus business founder and wife found dead

Police in both Dodge County and the City of Columbus are joining forces to investigate the deaths of two people there in two different locations.

Dodge County detectives are conducting a death investigation on Oak Grove Drive, in the Town of Elba, while The Columbus Police Department are investigating a death that happened in the lobby of Prairie Ridge Health’s Emergency/Urgent Care department, which is just a couple miles away from the first location. Investigators are saying the two victims were related but are not saying how the two died.

The Columbus-based business Lyco Manufacturing confirmed in a statement that local law enforcement informed them Monday that the company’s Chairman Dave Zittel and his wife, had both been found dead. Zittel founded Lyco Manufacturing in 1980. The company is a large employer in Columbus and maker of food processing machinery.