Alaska Murder-Suicide: Couple, Daughter Found Dead Inside Home Weeks After Being Shot

Three members of a family were found dead inside an Alaska home in what seemed to be an apparent murder-suicide, the authorities said Monday.

The deceased bodies, belonging to a husband, wife and their daughter, were found after a welfare check was requested at the house in Fairbanks, according to Associated Press.

Police spokesperson Teal Soden said somebody who knew the family called emergency dispatchers at around 8:15 p.m. Sunday and requested the welfare check. The caller said they hadn't heard from the family members in a while.

Officers were dispatched to the residence and found three bodies with gunshot wounds. They also found a suicide note at the scene.

The officials confirmed they all died from gunshot wounds, and a gun was recovered at the scene.

The deceased victims were identified as Linda and Wesley Dunbar, both aged 64, and their daughter, Nancy Dunbar, aged 36.

The couple and their daughter were living together, and were believed to have been dead for several weeks before the police discovered their bodies, according to Anchorage Daily News.

Nobody had reported the Dunbars missing prior to the welfare check being requested.

The officials said they had an idea about who fatally shot their family members before turning the gun on themselves. However, the suspected killer and the motive behind the apparent homicide-suicide were not immediately released, as the investigation was still going on.

"We have unfortunately, just like the rest of the nation, seen instances like this before where several people from the same family are found deceased," Soden said. "Usually it's not weeks later that they are discovered."

A similar incident was reported in January after a middle-aged couple and their teenage son were found dead during a welfare check in Dublin, Ohio. The 19-year-old son, identified as Anish Rajan Rajaram, was a student at Miami University in Oxford, and was found dead alongside his parents, Rajan Rajaram, 54, and Santhalatha Rajan, 51.

If you have thoughts of suicide, confidential help is available for free at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Call 1-800-273-8255. The line is available 24 hours, every day.