WEST HAVEN, Utah — The deaths of a woman and three young children, whose bodies were found outside a West Haven home earlier this week, were the result of a murder-suicide, the Weber County Sheriff's office announced Friday.
The woman was identified as 32-year-old Maribel Ibarra and her three children, one boy and two girls, ages 4, 2, and 1. Ibarra shared all three children with their father, who was interviewed by sheriff's office investigators.
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During a briefing Friday, officials said the crime scene was contained to the rear cargo area of the vehicle where the deceased were found. Investigators weren't able to say exactly when shots were fired but believe it happened sometime Sunday night into Monday morning.
"Based on video evidence, physical evidence, witness statements and interviews with family members, detectives believe that this was a tragic incident of murder suicide," said Lt. Terance Lavely with the sheriff's office.
Surveillance video provided to investigators helped determine the nature of the deaths and that no one else was involved.
"The evidence indicates that Maribel shot her three children, in the rear cargo area of her vehicle before turning the gun on herself," Lavely added.
Weber Co. Sheriff's Officials hold briefing on murder-suicide below:
The deaths weren't reported to police until their bodies were discovered by a family member Tuesday night.
The Sheriff's Office pressed that the incident is still under investigation as they attempt to determine what occurred.
"I don't know if we will ever be able to answer that question. Maribel would be the one to answer that and obviously we can't ask her that," said Lavely.
Lavely added that the department's hearts go out for the victims and their families and add that resources are being made available to the first responders that had to respond to and investigate this incident. He said this is the second child death in two months for the county, and the eleventh child death scene they have processed this year.
The family shared this written statement with FOX 13 News following the press conference.
"With deep sorrow in our hearts, we want to express the following words. We are going through an extremely difficult time, with a pain in our hearts that cannot be explained in words to the invaluable loss we have suffered, because they were the light of our lives. As a family, we unfortunately know nothing about her [Maribel] mental health. We always saw her as a loving mother, which makes this so shocking for us. We do not know the exact reasons why this tragedy happened, and we deeply regret it. This pain is something we wish no one would ever have to go through. Therefore, we urge all those going through difficult times to seek help; please never hide your pain. Speak out and trust that you can overcome any situation. As we mentioned, our pain is beyond words, and as a family, we are trying to get through this, even though we honestly do not know exactly how to cope with it. This is why we ask you to please respect our grief, so that in this way you can help us begin to heal, little by little, even though right now it seems unattainable. We trust that God and the outpouring of love from the community will keep us strong and guide us to a path where we may one day find peace. We are grateful for the support and prayers of the entire community."
For those struggling with thoughts of suicide, the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline can now be reached by simply dialing 988 any time for free support. Resources are also available online at utahsuicideprevention.org.
