OCEANA COUNTY -- Danlee Mead was apparently using his MySpace site to tell the world how unhappy and desperate he felt in the hours before he abducted and killed his wife, then turned a shotgun on himself.

"Dan is going to have a hard day today," the 41-year-old man wrote on his Web site Thursday, referring to his feelings about missing his son's birthday.

"Never let the one you love go or you'll regret it forever," he wrote in another spot, in reference to his 28-year-old estranged wife, Jessica.

Hours later, the depth of the ex-convict's anguish turned to violence.

Dressed in camouflage clothing from head-to-toe, with his face painted, and armed with a shotgun and knife, the Hesperia man hid Thursday night behind his in-law's home at 1043 S. 160th Avenue in Ferry Township.

"It appears he was lying in wait for her to arrive," said Oceana County Sheriff's Lt. Tim Priese.

Priese said Mead parked his vehicle on a two-track road behind the home, then broke in, stole the shotgun and waited.

When his wife returned with other family members, "he confronted them with a firearm outside," Priese said, then he "was pulling and dragging her into the woods."

The 911 call to Mason-Oceana Dispatch came at 8:11 p.m., with deputies arriving in the isolated rural area about 15 minutes later.

Officers set up a perimeter, called for help from other police agencies and began to search the wooded terrain. The sheriff's department reported the body of Jessica Monroe-Mead was found just after 11 p.m., about 100-200 yards behind the house.

"She died of multiple gunshot wounds," Priese said.

Funeral arrangements received Friday from Crandell Funeral Home in Fremont use the name Jessica Ann Monroe. Her surviving children are listed as Colton and Carter Monroe.

Searchers found Mead's body about 3/4-mile west of his wife's at approximately 7:27 a.m. Friday, following a massive search. Priese said authorities believe he had be dead most of the night.

Warren Monroe of Hart, the victim's great-uncle, said Mead's actions were apparently precipitated by his wife's recent decision to leave him. She had a personal protection order against her husband, preventing him from seeing her or their child.

The sheriff's department confirmed the personal protection order, saying that State Police arrested Mead for violating the order last week. The order was obtained in Newaygo County.

Mead, who was released from prison in January 2006, has an extensive criminal record, according to the Department of Corrections Web site.

Convictions from Saginaw County were for extortion, assault with intent to commit murder, kidnapping and aggravated stalking -- all dating from 1994. But since his release he had returned to school and even made the dean's list at Baker College in 2007.

Jessica Monroe was a school teacher in Newaygo County, according to the funeral notice.

"They had been split up, then he came back on their son's birthday," said her great uncle, who added that Mead had pulled a gun on his wife in the past.

Priese said investigators don't yet know how Mead knew when his wife was expected at the South 160th Avenue residence.

After her slaying, the search for Mead encompassed about a 1-by-2 mile area in Ferry Township that included woods, a pine tree plantation, swampland and heavy undergrowth, Priese said.

Mason/Oceana Dispatch used an automated communications system to call phone numbers within a 5-mile radius of the 160th Avenue residence, warning people about the incident and telling them to stay inside behind locked doors.

Before the killings, Mead had used his MySpace site to explain the anguish he felt over being separated from his family.

In a Wednesday entry titled "Saying Goodbye," Mead wrote "This morning I saw my wife, God what a beautiful woman she is, and yet she seems a million miles away. I did not have a good morning, nothing is going right, negativity just seems to be piling up and I don't think I will be able to dig out from under.

"Yesterday I found out I have to have court ordered psychological evaluation before I can see my son, it's going to cost $1,250, I can't even put gas in my vehicle, so how long will it be before I see Carter now.

"Or will I ever see him again. I have this reoccurring dream every night that I am going to die, and you know what I think it is inevitable that that is what is going to happen, so in case I didn't say it, I LOVE YOU and will miss you with all of my heart, you know who you are ... "

The next day, Mead wrote, "Today is my son Carter's birthday. I won't be able to see him, talk to him, give him a present, hug or kiss him. It is going to be an extremely difficult day for me. I do not know how or even if I'll make it through today."

About his wife, he wrote, "We have only been separated since Memorial Day, but it seems to me that any feelings she had for me are completely gone. How is that possible so fast? I mean even through all of the hurtful and mean things that we both have said, I still love her as much as I did."

In addition to the Oceana County Sheriff's Department, emergency response teams from Mason/Oceana and Muskegon counties were activated along with a state police unit. Hart, Shelby and Hesperia police sent officers as did the state police and Mason County Sheriff's Department.

Manistee Tribal police also responded, bringing a police dog. The U.S. Coast Guard helicopter also was used in the search.