A MOTHER is believed to have drowned herself and her three young children after her husband committed suicide, police say after four bodies were recovered from a Minnesota lake.
Officials found the bodies of the woman and the three children in a two-day search of the Vadnais-Sucker Lake Regional Park in Minnesota.
Police recover four bodies in Vadnais Lake during a two-day search[/caption]
Authorities believe this incident was a possible triple murder-suicide[/caption]
The search began after the father of the children was found dead on Friday at approximately 10.30am in Maplewood, the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Department told The Sun.
Officials have not yet publicly named the victims.
The police were responding to a report of a possible suicide, officials said.
Authorities were then prompted to respond to a welfare check requested for an adult female with three small children in the area of Vadnais-Sucker Lake Regional Park at 4.00pm on Friday.
“Based on the vehicle and the items in the area, Deputies, Officers, and Firefighters began a search and rescue operation at Vadnais-Sucker Lake Regional Park,” said the police.
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The first child’s body was found at approximately 7.31pm on Friday in Vadnais Lake, reported authorities.
“Deputies pulled the child from the lake and began life-saving measures. Medics declared this child deceased,” according to the incident update.
At approximately 12.00am on Saturday authorities located the second body in the lake. This child was also declared deceased.
On Saturday at approximately 10.40am, police located the body of an adult female, who is believed to be the mother of the three children and pulled her from the lake, police reported.
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At approximately 11.00am, the body of the third child was located and pulled from the lake, according to officers.
“The Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office is currently investigating this incident as a possible triple murder-suicide,” authorities reported.
According to the update, all three children are presumed to be under the age of five or six years old.
The father, mother, and three children’s bodies have been taken into custody by the Ramsey County Medical Examiner, the incident update said.
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The update said that “the Ramsey County Medical Examiner will release the names, manner, and cause of death of the adult female and three children at a later date.”
The ongoing investigation is being led by the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office and the Maplewood Police Department.
