The search for a mother and her three children ended after authorities recovered their bodies from a lake in Minnesota following a rescue and recovery operation, and authorities say the deaths are being investigated as a potential triple. murder-suicide.
The body of the children’s father was found in a different location hours earlier.
Police are investigating the incident, including suspicions of a potential homicide-suicide, according to Maplewood police.
Emergency services searched Lake Vadnais near Minneapolis in the United States for hours, starting Friday around 4:00 pm, police said.
The chain of events began early that morning when the man’s body was found in a mobile home park in the town of Maplewood.
The police determined that the woman had left with the children and found her car near the lake.
Friends and family gathered at Lake Vadnais. Image: AP
The Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office said the body of the first child was recovered from the lake at around 7:30 pm on Friday.
The body of the second child was found shortly after midnight.
The bodies of the third child and the woman were found around 10:30 am on Saturday.
The children – two boys and one girl – were all less than five years old.
Ramsey County Undersheriff Mike Martin said at a press conference Saturday afternoon that all remains will be taken to the coroner’s office, who will release information on the causes of death, NBC reported.
“There is nothing more tragic than the loss of young children,” Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher said Friday.
He added that officials were treating the lake case as a “potential triple homicide”.
“That hasn’t changed,” Martin said on Saturday.
