Four family members dead in apparent Ohio triple murder-suicide

[February 07, 2014]  (Reuters) — A 68-year-old man killed his wife, daughter and 15-year-old granddaughter in a triple murder-suicide in a rural swath of northwestern Ohio, county officials said on Thursday.

Robert Garza Sr was believed to have killed his 61-year-old wife, Christine Garza, his daughter, 42-year-old Zoila Garza, and granddaughter, Rebecca Garza, at a residence in Defiance County, Sheriff Dave Westrick said.

The investigation was under way but early findings, such as the closeness and position of the bodies and a gun, led police to conclude Robert Garza was responsible for the homicides and taking his own life, Westrick said.

A motive was not released. "Nothing led us to believe it was anything other than a triple murder with a suicide," Westrick said.

The family, last seen on Wednesday afternoon, was discovered at about 8:30 p.m. local time on Thursday by a family member who was checking on them, he said.

Defiance is a city of some 16,000 residents roughly 60 miles southwest of Toledo in the U.S. state.

(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; editing by Elizabeth Piper)

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