Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio says three bodies found in a home in suburban Phoenix were those of a mother and her two children.
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Officials believe the case to be a murder-suicide, but are awaiting autopsy results before they can make a final determination on the deaths.
A Maricopa County Sheriffs Deputy lets a crime scene van past the police tape outside a home where multiple bodies were found, Tuesday, July 26, 2016, in Gilbert, Ariz.
Neighbors of a woman found dead in her home with her 17-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter said she was distraught because her husband had left her. In a Facebook post, a woman who identified herself as one of Gerhart’s “dearest” friends, Paula Testa, said on the night of July 25, she “found the vehicle running w/ tubes from exhaust pipes into the home. called 911”.
There was no details on their ages or genders b ut sheriff’s spokeswoman Courtney Palma said they were being investigated as suspicious deaths.
Arriving detectives found the two children upstairs and the mother’s body in another undisclosed area.
The county medical examiner’s office will determine if the children died from gunshot wounds or carbon monoxide from the car’s exhaust fumes. Above is a photo of Lisa pictured with her 17-year-old son Kyle back in February 2016.
Connie Rivere, a neighbor in the community of ranch properties, said a husband, a wife and two children had lived at the house until the husband recently moved out.
Calling it “a very unusual situation”, Arpaio said it was not yet clear what led to both the use of a gun and the carbon monoxide at the home.
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He says deputies found a handgun near the woman’s body.
