Ohio investigators are looking into an apparent triple murder-suicide where a man killed his wife, daughter and granddaughter before killing himself on Thursday.
Local police said 68-year-old Robert Garza Sr. shot his wife Christine Garza, 61, his daughter Zoila Garza, 42, and his granddaughter, 15-year-old Rebecca Garza, at a home in rural Defiance County, Reuters reported.
Police said the family was last seen Wednesday at 3 p.m. The bodies were discovered when a family member went to the home on Bowman road. Police were called to the scene at around 7:45 p.m., WANE reported.
Defiance County Sheriff Dave Westrick said the way the bodies were found, including Robert Garza Sr.'s, and the position of the handgun suggests the man killed his family and then turned the gun on himself.
"Nothing led us to believe it was anything other than a triple murder with a suicide," Westrick said, Reuters reported.
Garza Sr. and his wife's body were found in one of the rooms, and his daughter and granddaughter were discovered in another, WANE reported. The house appeared to be in order and there were no signs of a struggle before the shootings, Westrick said, according to WANE.
Westrick said he doesn't recall ever seeing a triple murder-suicide before.
"We see a lot of stuff," said Westrick, WANE reported. "We don't see four deaths like this. I don't even remember it in the 40 years I've been around. It's pretty rare."
According to Westrick, Garza Sr. was a Vietnam War veteran who was struggling with health issues. But Garza never presented a problem for the sheriff's department, WANE reported. Westrick said they are still investigating to determine a motive.
"It's just an unfortunate set of circumstances," Westrick said, WANE reported. "Something that's going to be really hard to explain. But, these are always hard to understand."
