Toddler Among 5 Family Members Found Dead in Utah

Cops unsure if 17-year-old survivor, found with gunshot wound, is a victim or a suspect
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 18, 2024 11:35 AM CST
Toddler Among 5 Family Members Found Dead in Utah
Police investigate a crime scene where they say multiple family members were found dead inside a home in West Valley City, Utah, Tuesday Dec. 17, 2024.   (Scott G. Winterton/The Deseret News via AP)

A couple and three children, including a toddler, have been found dead inside a Utah home, alongside a teenage survivor who was found with a gunshot wound, police said Tuesday. Details remain scarce, but police in West Valley City, a suburb of Salt Lake City, said the violence was "isolated" to a single home and "we do not believe there's a suspect on the loose," per NBC News. Police were called to the home on Monday by a concerned relative, who said she hadn't heard from a female resident for several days. No one answered the door and there was no sign of an emergency, police said. On Tuesday afternoon, however, the same relative entered the home through the garage and found a 17-year-old boy with a gunshot wound.

Police then found a 42-year-old man, a 38-year-old woman, an 11-year-old boy, a 9-year-old girl, and a 2-year-old girl dead at the scene. The 17-year-old survivor is now in the hospital. He suffered "a pretty significant injury" and is "in a condition where we've not really been able to communicate with him" so "we do not know at this point if he is a suspect in this case or if he is a victim in this case," said police rep Roxeanne Vainuku.

After checking the home for victims and suspects, police left to await approval of a search warrant, which came shortly before 8pm Tuesday, per KUTV. Vainuku said investigators now hope to uncover evidence that "will tell us what really happened." The residence was known to be home to a couple and their four children, ages 2 to 17, per NBC. (More Utah stories.)

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