A 37-year-old woman and her three young children were found dead at a home in northwestern Oregon, officials announced Tuesday.
The bodies of the adult woman and the three children, ages 2, 5 and 7, were found at a residence in Cornelius, just west of Portland, around 3 p.m. PT, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
According to the WCSO, deputies responded to an area near the 300 block of North 15th Ave. after a 911 caller reported finding four people dead at a home.
The home is located next to Cornelius Elementary School.
When deputies arrived at the scene at 3:03 p.m. they located the four victims, whose identities are not being released “at this time,” officials said.
Deputy David Huey, a WCSO spokesperson, told KATU News the bodies were found in a building “attached” to the home, but did not elaborate.
The family had recently moved into the area, a neighbor told Oregon CBS affiliate KOIN. They seemed “very happy” and “were always playing together,” the neighbor, Casey Dennis, said.
It’s not immediately clear how the four victims died.
No arrests had been made as of Wednesday evening, and investigators don’t believe there’s any danger to the public, Huey said at a news briefing near the home in Cornelius.
“This is a pretty tragic event,” he told reporters. “This is a small community between Cornelius and North Plains, and it’s going to hit them hard.”
Detectives from the Violent Crimes Unit are assisting in the investigation, the sheriff’s office said.
