The bodies of three young children and their mother were recovered from a Minnesota lake during a two-day search that is being investigated as a possible triple murder-suicide, authorities said.
Law enforcement responded to Vadnais-Sucker Lake Regional Park in Vadnais Heights Friday afternoon in response to a welfare check on a woman and children, the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
Rescue and recovery teams search Lake Vadnais in Minnesota for the body of a child and the mother after the bodies of two other children were found, July 2, 2022.
Andrea Lyons/KSTP
The woman’s car and items, including the children’s shoes, were found at the scene, prompting responding deputies and officers to close the park and begin searching the area and the water, the sheriff’s office said.
The first child was pulled from the lake around 7:30 p.m. Friday and pronounced dead after life-saving measures, authorities said. The second child was found around midnight and pronounced dead. Response teams continued to search for the remaining child and woman until 3am
The search resumed at 6 a.m. Saturday. The woman was found about 10:40 a.m. and the third child about 20 minutes later, the sheriff’s office said. Both were pronounced dead.
All three children – two boys and a girl – are believed to be under the age of 6. The Ramsey County Medical Examiner will release the names of the four found and their manner and cause of death at a later date.
“There is nothing more tragic than the loss of children,” Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher told reporters Friday, saying those responsible would be searching “long into the night.”
Friends and family gathered at Vadnais Lake after news broke of a dead child being pulled from the lake on July 1, 2022, in Vadnais Heights, Minn.
Alex Korman/Star Tribune via AP
Distraught family and friends had gathered outside the police perimeter as the search continued Friday, ABC affiliate KSTP in St. Paul, Minnesota, reported.
The welfare check at the lake is believed to be related to another death investigation in a nearby town in Ramsey County, the sheriff’s office said. On Friday morning, Maplewood police and firefighters responding to a call of a possible suicide in a residential area found a man dead at the scene.
After responding to that report, authorities began searching for the mother and three children, eventually tracking the mother’s cell phone to the lake, Ramsey County Sheriff’s Deputy Mike Martin told reporters during a briefing Saturday.
“Our hearts go out to the families involved here and their friends,” Martin said. “Our goal was to find the children and the mother and return them to their families and we’re glad we were able to do that.”
No further information was released about the connection between the two death investigations.
If you’re struggling with suicidal thoughts or worried about a friend or loved one, help is available. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 [TALK] for free, confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
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