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15-02-2024
Bureau Report + Agencies
LOS ANGELES/ NEW DELHI: An Indian-origin family, including their 4-year-old twin boys, has been found dead at their home in California with the police investigating the case as a murder-suicide, the second such incident in less than two months that has shocked the community in the US.
The victims, hailing from Kerala, have been identified by the friends as Anand Sujith Henry, his wife Alice Priyanka, and their 4-year-old twin boys, NBC Bay Area reported. However police have not released the victims’ identities.
On Monday, Police said a 911 call spurred a welfare check at the San Mateo home after someone reported they hadn’t heard from the residents for some time. They arrived and checked the exits of the home and found no signs of forced entry.
“Unfortunately, we located four deceased people inside the home. One adult male, one adult female and two children,” said Jerami Surratt, public information officer with the San Mateo Police Department.
The case is being investigated as a murder-suicide, police said on Tuesday.
According to court records, the husband filed for divorce in December 2016 but apparently did not go through with it.
Sources with direct knowledge of the investigation said police believe the boys were smothered, strangled, or given a lethal overdose because there was no sign of trauma on their bodies.
The man and woman were found inside a bathroom, according to police. They both had gunshot wounds. A 9-millimeter pistol and a loaded magazine were found in the bathroom.
The deaths appear to be an isolated incident, and there is no danger to the public, police said.
“We are confident the person responsible was located within the home,” police said in a statement.
“This is not a normal call for anyone. It’s tragic for the family, the community, the officers..,” said Surratt.
At the State of the City address on Monday night, San Mateo Mayor Lisa Diaz Nash held a moment of silence for the four people found dead in the home.
The couple’s twin boys were found in a bedroom, and their cause of death is under investigation.
Sources suggest they may have been smothered, strangled, or poisoned, as they showed no physical trauma.
Henry filed for divorce in December 2016, according to court documents, but the case was not settled.
The police have previously responded to calls from the residence but the specifics of those instances have not been made public. Investigators are still trying to piece together a reason for the deaths as there was no suicide note discovered.
