Woman and two children found dead in California apartment

Authorities are investigating the deaths of a woman and her two children after their bodies were found in a California apartment.

Officers with the Fremont Police Department made the disturbing discovery around 1pm on Monday following a 911 call made by someone inside the apartment at the Inglewood Common complex. It is unclear who placed the call asking for help.

Details about the tragedy are scarce, but the deaths have been deemed suspicious. While the victims have not been officially identified by police, authorities said the victims were a 29-year-old woman, a one-year-old boy and a six-year-old girl.

A man who claimed to be the woman’s cousin told NBC Bay Area that she was the mother of the children. He also said that the family had moved from Guatemala four months ago to live with the children’s father.

“ I only know that my cousin and the two children are dead,” Frank Garcia told NBC. “She was like a sister to me.”

“Any kind of case like this, where you have young individuals involved, it’s traumatic for everybody,” Lieutenant Paul McCormick of the Fremont Police Department said during a press conference on Monday. “For the officers too, because many of the officers that responded today are parents themselves and so it does have an impact.”

Mr McCormick said there is no threat to the community. The victims’ cause and manner of death have not been released pending autopsies.

Neighbours said the children had been playing outside just hours before they were found dead. Some brought flowers and placed them in a makeshift memorial outside the apartment complex.

“I’m sick to my stomach, makes your tummy hurt, little babies,” Fremont resident Allie Carroll told CBS News. “We need more mental health, we need more mental health in California.”

Investigators said that they will provide updates on the case in the following days. Residents who live in the vicinity of the apartment complex where the family lived are asked to review surveillance video and submit any information they believe could help in the investigation.