PARKER, Colo. — Three people were found dead at two locations in Parker and unincorporated Douglas County on Thursday morning. Law enforcement said the three deaths are connected but did not say how.
The Douglas County Sheriff's Office dispatch got a call from a resident at 8:51 a.m. of a body found at the top of the Rueter-Hess Incline, which is in an unincorporated part of the county, southwest of Parker.
"When we arrived on scene, we found the body of an adult male and a juvenile male," said Sheriff Darren Weekly, Douglas County Sheriff's Office.
Investigators found information at that scene that led them to ask Parker Police at 10:15 a.m. to conduct a welfare check at a home in the area of Blackwolf Drive and Blackwolf Way.
"When officers arrived on scene, they entered the home and that's when they found a deceased adult female. While they were clearing the home, they also noticed a heavy smell of gas," said Josh Hans, Public Information Officer with the Parker Police Department.
The officers noticed a gas leak in the home and evacuated residents in the immediate area. South Metro Fire Rescue assisted with shutting off the gas leak, according to police.
Neither the sheriff's office nor Parker Police would elaborate on how the two scenes are connected, saying that's part of their investigation. They also wouldn't say whether they're investigating any of the deaths as homicides.
Neighbors say two adults live at the home with their son. Andrea Ochoa, who lives nearby, said she and her family are now shocked to think what might have happened to that family.
"Yeah, a lot of shock definitely," Ochoa said.
Ochoa said usually when she's out walking her dog in the morning, she sees the family that lives there, and the parents wave and say hello as they wait with their son for the school bus to pick him up.
“This morning, I was taking my dog out for a walk like I do every morning. And when we got down to that little trail intersection, I noticed that their garage door was up, and I saw their gray van kind of back out of the garage and it kind of idled there for a minute or two before it drove away," Ochoa said.
Thursday afternoon, a gray van was towed away along Ancestry Drive.
That's right off the Rueter-Hess Incline, where Douglas County sheriff's deputies discovered the bodies of the man and boy.
Investigators would not confirm if all three of the victims were related or if the bodies found were those of the family believed to have been living here.
Ochoa said her family is worried for the young boy who lived there, still holding out hope.
"Yeah, we are hoping to maybe get an update from where he is and if he's okay, because that would just be awful if anything happened to him," Ochoa said. "So yeah, we’re really just hoping that he’s okay.”
Weekly said that investigators believe they've identified everyone involved and there's no threat to the community.
The Douglas County Coroner's Office will release the identities of those who died and the cause and manner of their deaths.
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