The bodies of two young children and a woman were found in a Little Rock apartment Tuesday, and police were investigating the deaths as a triple homicide.
Little Rock Police Department spokesman officer Steve Moore said at the scene that the 24-year-old female victim is believed to be the mother of the two other victims, a boy and a girl who were each 5 or younger, though investigators had not yet confirmed the relationship between them.
A family member discovered the bodies around 2 p.m. in an apartment at 6600 Lancaster Road after the children didn't show up for school and efforts to reach the woman by phone were unsuccessful, Moore said.
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Photos by Ryan Tarinelli and Staton Breidenthal
Photos by Ryan Tarinelli and Staton Breidenthal
Police initially were dispatched to a report of a suicide, but Moore said authorities determined early on that it appeared all three victims were killed. Authorities did not release details on the causes of death, and no information on a suspect was known.
One of the victims was 5 years old and the other was 4, though Moore said he didn't know if the boy or girl was the older child.
Shortly before 7:30 p.m., authorities said the victim's car — a white four-door 2004 Honda Accord with tinted windows — had been found.
Police tape stretched across large swaths of the parking lot outside the parking lot as detectives worked the scene.
The three homicides bring the total in Little Rock in 2017 to 55.
Read Wednesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
EARLIER:
Police say three people, including two children, were found dead at an apartment in Little Rock on Tuesday and that the deaths are being investigated as homicides.
Lt. Michael Ford, a spokesman for the city's Police Department, said a family member discovered the bodies in a residence on Lancaster Road. One victim was said to be 4 years old and another 5 years old. No age was available for the third victim.
Dispatch records show officers were called to a report of a suicide at 6600 Lancaster Road, the listed address for Rosewood Apartments shortly after 2 p.m.
The people have not been identified. Detectives were at the scene Tuesday afternoon.
No information on a suspect has been released.
Senior online editor Gavin Lesnick contributed to this story.