WEST HAVEN, Utah — An investigation remains ongoing after four people, including an adult woman and three children, were found dead inside a car overnight in West Haven.
According to the Weber County Sheriff's Office, its deputies were called to the home in the 1800 block of South Prevedel Drive at 9:47 p.m. When they arrived, they found the four people dead inside a vehicle.
A 32-year-old woman and three children were identified as being inside, with police confirming to FOX 13 News that the children were a four-year-old boy, and two young girls ages two and one.
"It's extremely tragic," said neighbor Amber Nicholas. "I wish there was something I could have done for the kids.
Deputies said there was evidence of gunshot trauma, but that the cause of the deaths is still under investigation. Detectives added the shootings occurred inside the vehicle and a handgun was found inside.
No one is in custody and officials are not searching for a suspect.
This morning, Darren King, a neighbor and family friend, said he was still trying to process the information.
"They were the sweetest people in the world," King said. "They were the type that if you needed something, they would give it to you... Sunday night they would usually have family dinner and usually we’d have someone knock on our door with a plate of food. Just the most kind people I have ever met.”
Watch below as officials give update on deaths of 4 people in West Haven:
Police have not confirmed how long the victims may have been in the vehicle, but King said he thought he heard something that sounded like fireworks on Sunday. King also told FOX 13 News that it was the father of the 32-year-old woman who made the discovery of the bodies before calling 911.
Investigators will be using nearby surveillance and home security video to determine how long the group had been in the car in front of the home.
"We've lived in this neighborhood a while, but never thought anything like this could happen," said Nicholas.
The Weber County Sheriff's Office is the main agency leading the investigation but is getting assistance from the Weber/Morgan Homicide Task Force, the Weber-Metro CSI, and other resources.
"These kinds of cases are very tough on everybody involved, as well as the community," shared Lt. Colby Ryan with the sheriff's office. "Whenever you may have little kids die in such a way, yeah, it's very difficult for our officers, our deputies, our CSI team, the homicide task force and neighbors."
Detectives state they will be sitting in on autopsies being performed by the state medical examiner and will not be releasing new information until those are complete.
The sheriff's office asks that anyone with more information on the deaths call the Weber area dispatch at 801-395-8221.
