'Possible Triple Homicide': Bodies Of 3 Children, Mother Found In Minnesota Lake

KEY POINTS

Police found an adult male dead in his house near Maplewood
A search for the mother and children was initiated
The mother's cellphone was tracked to Vadnais Lake, Minnesota

Saint Paul, Minnesota -- The bodies of three young children and their mother were found in a lake near Saint Paul, Minnesota, in an apparent "triple murder-suicide,” authorities said.

The father of the children was found dead in their house in Pearson Drive on Friday morning, which led to the subsequent search for the mother and children at the lake, Maplewood Police department said in a statement posted on Facebook.

The children, two boys and a girl, were all under the age of 6. The bodies were pulled out from the shoreline of the Vadnais lake after an exhaustive search led by the police and rescue workers that began Friday morning and ended Saturday, Star Tribune reported.

The discovery of the woman's car and belongings including the children's shoes prompted the authorities to seal the park and begin combing the area and water, according to the sheriff's office.

The identities of those who died, as well as their specific causes of death, were not released by the police. They did not explain the connection between the initial suicide Friday morning and the string of events that followed, but only established that all the four deaths were related. They are investigating the case as a possible triple homicide, Associated Press reported.

Maplewood Police Lieutenant Joe Steiner said the woman's car was found near Vadnais Lake around 4 p.m. Friday. The officers rescued one child from the lake around 7:30 p.m. and attempted emergency procedures, but the child was declared dead.

The authorities then discovered a second dead child just after midnight. The search operation lasted until 3 a.m. in the water that was around 10 feet deep, and was resumed on Saturday morning, New York Post reported. The mother was found about 10:40 a.m. on Saturday, and the third child was identified 20 minutes later, according to Undersheriff Mike Martin. “Our goal was to find the children and the mother and to return them to their families and we’re glad that we were able to do that,” he said.

At a news conference Friday, Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher said, “There’s nothing more tragic than the loss of young children."