Family of 4 found dead in California home

TURLOCK, Calif. — Police in Central California said on Friday they found a family of four dead inside a home in what appeared to be a murder-suicide.

Officers made the discovery at the home in Turlock around 10 p.m. Thursday after a family member called to report that the four had not been seen or heard from, Turlock police said.

The victims are a 78-year-old man, his 69-year-old wife, and their two adult sons, aged 39 and 42, Turlock police spokeswoman Mayra Lewis said. Their names were not immediately released.

The bodies were found in various places in the house, and Lewis said Turlock fire officials were investigating several parts of the home burned in what appeared to be attempted arson.

Lewis said a preliminary investigation has determined the four died in a murder-suicide, although it was not immediately clear how they died. She said the four had been dead at least 24 hours before the time they were found.

Officials working in the home Friday wore gas masks because of an initial report of a gas smell in the home, but Lewis said that may have been decomposition. Lewis said this isolated incident posed no danger to the community.