The Orange County Sheriff's Department is investigating the shooting deaths of five family members who were found dead in an upscale California neighborhood this past weekend.
According to Sheriff's Lt. Erin Guidice, a relative of the family was conducting a wellness check Sunday afternoon when they discovered the bodies inside their Sea Pointe Estates home, located approximately 65 miles southeast of Los Angeles. Sheriff's deputies arrived on the scene at about 4 p.m., just 10 minutes after receiving the initial 9-1-1 call.
The names of the dead were not immediately released and investigators have not officially commented on a cause of death. However, the Orange County Register has reported that the victims – two sisters in their early 20s, an elderly woman, and a man and woman in their 40s or 50s – were all shot to death. The bodies of the middle-aged couple were found in a downstairs closet, while the three other victims were discovered in the attached bedroom.
Yesterday, Guidice told the Associated Press that two handguns were found next to the middle-aged couple and that the weapons were registered to one of the home's owners. Guidice also said that the victims had been dead for at least two weeks, making it difficult for investigators to obtain fingerprints.
"The bodies were terribly, terribly decomposed," Giudice said, adding that the autopsies were to be completed sometime today.
It remains unclear if an outsider killed the victims or if their deaths were the result of a murder–suicide. However, the latter seems more plausible; Giudice said that the community was not in danger and that the Sheriff's department was not searching for any suspects.
The investigation is ongoing.
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