CARNATION, Wash. (Dec. 26) - Six people, likely three generations of a family, were found dead Wednesday at a rural property east of Seattle, and a law enforcement official said police arrested the property owner's daughter and her boyfriend.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the names, said the pair were Michele Anderson, 29, and her boyfriend, Joseph McEnroe.
Both were booked into the King County Jail late Wednesday for investigation of six counts of homicide. They came to the crime scene after investigators arrived there this morning, were questioned by police, then arrested around 4 p.m.
Urquhart said investigators had not determined a motive in the slayings.
The victims included a boy about age 3, a girl about age 6, a man and woman in their 30s, and a man and woman in their 50s. Their names were not released, but they were "likely three generations" of one family, Urquhart said.
Autopsies have not been performed on the bodies, but the cause of death was apparently gunshots, Urquhart said. They were likely killed late afternoon or early evening on Christmas Eve, he said.
Sheriff's Detective Bob Conner said earlier Wednesday that authorities were searching the area for other possible victims, but insisted there was no danger to anyone else living nearby.
Asked to explain, he said, "You have to take my word for it."
Urquhart said the bodies were found by a co-worker of one of the victims who had come to the house because one of the victims, who works for the Postal Service, did not report to work.
The bodies were found on a rural property that includes a house and a mobile home at the end of a long dirt road. The structures are part of a cluster of other rural properties near this town about 21 miles east of Seattle.
Urquhart declined to say where the victims were found on the property, other than to say they were "not found in the same room." As investigators searched the property, they removed a black pickup truck.
The property is owned by Wayne Anderson, 60, and Judy Anderson, 61, according to public records.
The couple has three children, including the daughter who was arrested, Michelle, who lives on the property in a mobile home, said Mark Bennett, who identified himself as a family friend. He said another daughter, Mary, and a son live in the area.
Bennett, who was not the person who found the bodies, said Wayne Anderson is a Boeing Co. engineer and Judy Anderson works for the Post Office in Carnation.
He said he spoke with the couple on Christmas Eve and tried to call them Christmas Day but could not reach them. He told reporters he came to the property Wednesday morning after seeing the home on television news.
"I didn't want to believe what I heard and saw," he said, "so I drove over."
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