"There's a dead guy in a black jeep," he tells the 911 operator.

The operator asks the caller to repeat the address of the emergency but is met with silence. The call ends.

Madison police believe the caller was Ryan Dutter, 36, the Middleton man who shot his 12-year-old son and then himself Tuesday. Police, led to the scene by the 911 call, found the two in a sport utility vehicle at Haen Family Park on Madison's Far West Side.

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The boy, Kyle Dutter, died Tuesday. His father died the next day.

Dane County released a recording of the 17-second 911 call Thursday. Also Thursday, Madison police said Dutter left behind at least two notes that confirm the shooting as a murder-suicide but do not shed definitive light on a clear motive.

The notes say "there's going to be a murder-suicide (and) that he's going to commit these acts, but it does not say why," said Madison Police Department spokesman Joel DeSpain. The police investigation continues, he said.

While no trigger for the murder-suicide has been put forth, two facts are known: Dutter had been under major financial strain, and he was the parent of a child with high needs. The latter has surfaced as a topic of considerable discussion on online forums tied to the news coverage, with parents of children with disabilities writing about the challenges they face.

The extent of Kyle's disabilities is clear from a public Web site his father created in August to keep family and friends informed about Kyle's life. It lists 10 medical professionals that Kyle had been seeing, including a psychiatrist (for behavioral issues), an orthopedist (for leg braces) and a neurologist (for seizures). Kyle also was seeing a pediatrician who specializes in autism.

Court records from the 1999 divorce between Dutter and Kyle's mother, Laura, describe the boy as "severely disabled." Ryan Dutter says in the court documents that Kyle, if taken out of his "natural environment," could become aggressive, "biting, hitting, banging his head and screaming."

Joe Harris, the father of an autistic son in Fort Worth, Texas, said he was compelled to call the State Journal newsroom Thursday after reading about the tragedy online.

"It hit me hard because of the stress the parents must be under," he said. "I'm not saying you should go out and kill your child — no, no, no! — but, oh my God, the stress is unbelievable."

While no one can say at this point what role — if any — Kyle's disabilities played in the tragedy, advocates and parents of children with disabilities say the discussion around the tragedy offers a chance to reach out and support other families.

"Often, people underestimate the complexities families must handle in being a case manager for a child with special needs. It can be overwhelming and frustrating," said Lisa Pugh of Madison, whose 9-year-old daughter has autism.

Pugh, who recently was awarded a year-long Kennedy Foundation fellowship to work on disability public policy in Washington, D.C., said her daughter has been a great joy and enriched her life. Still, there have been struggles, she said. For many families, the financial component is stressful, especially during these economic times when community resources are shrinking, she said.

"I can definitely tell you that there are a lot of families with children with special needs in Dane County waiting for help, and unless they are willing to say they are in a crisis, they must figure out a way to handle it on their own," Pugh said.

Dutter, who also had an 18-year-old daughter, filed for bankruptcy last fall, and court records for his two divorces show a man who owned no real estate, had no life insurance and moved from job to job and city to city.

In a February court filing in Rock County, Dutter, who had worked in the financial sector, said he was unemployed for the second time in two years. In an agreement signed the next month, Laura Dutter even forgave several months of unpaid child support that her ex-husband owed.

Donna Fox, executive director of Madison's Canopy Center (formerly Parental Stress Center), said Dutter's situation may not reflect bad financial skills. Parents of children with special needs can find it difficult to land and keep jobs that pay enough to cover family expenses and that are flexible enough to accommodate their often lengthy litany of appointments for doctors and special services, she said.

Even for people with good health insurance, "there are many, many things that simply are not covered" when you have a child with disabilities, said Linda Rowley, who runs the Web site Family Village for UW-Madison's Waisman Center to help families with children with disabilities find information on the Internet.

Rowley, whose 23-year-old son has spina bifida, said she has spent more than $3,000 in uncovered expenses for her son this year. She said it makes her sad to think that perhaps "this dad didn't feel he had any resources he could reach out to."

Kyle's care had long been an issue between Dutter and his ex-wife, and it was especially contentious in the years immediately after their divorce, according to court documents. The two parents sometimes exchanged accusations of bad parenting, and changes in placement and support were common.

However, Ryan Dutter's mother, Rosemary, told Madison's WISC-TV (Ch. 3) Thursday that she did not think the couple's custody problems led to Tuesday's tragedy.

In Kyle's obituary, which runs today on Page A6, his family says he liked to pretend it was Halloween year-round. He loved swimming and bowling and greeted everyone with a "How you doing?"

Online condolences may be sent to the family through the funeral home Web site at www.daleymurphywisch.com.

State Journal reporters Ed Treleven, Sandy Cullen and Matthew DeFour contributed to this report.