Six members of a family have been found dead in their sprawling ranch home in southern California by sheriff’s deputies responding to an emergency call from the house on Tuesday.
The bodies of three adults and three children were found by police who had gone to the ranch after the early morning call to a 911 operator. The dispatcher alerted the sherrif’s office after hearing some noise that sounded like gunshots before the line went dead.
Sheriff Bob Doyle said all six had signs of ”trauma to the head area” but did not say how the victims died or whether they were related.
The 1,8ha mountain ranch is owned by an investigator at the Riverside County district prosecutor’s office, David Mc Gowan.
Police said the dead were McGowan, his wife, three children and their grandmother.
It was not clear how they had died but local KNBC television said authorities believed they were dealing with a domestic dispute and the suspect was a relative of one of the victims.
The bodies were discovered just before dawn in a sprawling home in the quiet Pine Meadow community, about 160km east of Los Angeles. Police gave no other details.
Doyle said there were no signs of a break in.
”We handle all investigations as homicides until we prove otherwise,” he said at a news conference.
”At this point in time, we’re not necessarily looking for anybody.”
Police made the gruesome discovery when responding to an emergency call from the house at 4.33am (12.33pm GMT).
”It was pretty much no one on the other end of the phone,” Doyle said. ”There was some noise that was heard by dispatch.”
The remote, mountainous area is well-known for its horse ranches, nestled among rolling meadows and tall pines. Public records show David and Karen McGowan bought the property and ranch house for $425 000 in 2000. – Guardian Unlimited Â