Police: Man found dead suspect in murders of wife, 3 kids

SALEM, Ore. - Firefighters found a mother and her three young children dead from "homicidal violence" in a Salem home found burning early Tuesday morning, according to Salem Police.

Police also said the woman's husband and the father of the children was later found dead in a car in Cottage Grove, Ore. He had not checked into the hotel.

Investigators said it appeared to be a murder-suicide.

The body remained in a Jeep Grand Cherokee in the parking lot at the Comfort Inn pending the arrival of police from Salem, who will process the scene as part of their investigation into four people found dead early Tuesday morning.

Firefighters responded to a house fire on Fisher Road NE at about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday. While fighting the fire, crews discovered the four bodies in the home and removed them from the house.

"Evidence located at the scene indicated that the victims died as a result of homicidal violence and firefighters requested the Salem Police Department respond," Lt. Dave Okada with the Salem Police Department said.

Okada said the woman's husband and father of the children was a "person of interest" in the case.

At about 11 a.m., a deceased man was found in a car in the Cottage Grove area, investigators said. While they have not explicitly said the dead man was the husband, they did say the vehicle was "associated" with the person of interest in the case.

"Investigators believe this to be a domestic related murder-suicide situation," Okada said.

None of the deceased have been identified and police said the investigation into the deaths is ongoing. The ages of the children have not been released.

Salem Police were also investigating after a delivery driver found a dead man on Fisher Road NE just a few blocks from the house fire.

Police have not said that incident is related to death of the family and the house fire.