A newborn and a toddler were found unharmed inside the rural Virginia home where the bodies of their parents and 14-year-old half-brother were discovered Wednesday morning.
The bodies of Michael Coleman, 39; Rachel Ozuna, 34, and Kyrrus Ozuna, 14, were found about 9 a.m. after authorities were called to the 8300 block of Arlene Acres Drive, a quiet gravel road southeast of Fredericksburg, the Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Department said.
Their deaths have been ruled homicides, authorities said Thursday. The victims' manners of death appeared to be from a sharp object, according to a release from the sheriff's department Thursday.
"They're not telling us how it happened or anything else," said Rachel Ozuna's father by phone.
He said Rachel's ex, who was Kyrrus' father, was the one who discovered the victims' bodies. Neighbors saw the man in tears outside the home as sheriff's deputies arrived, responding to his call for help.
"He was completely broke down and in tears trying to talk to the officers and me," Rachel's father said.
In addition to 14-year-old Kyrrus, Rachel Ozuna also had two children with Michael Coleman, the six-week-old baby and toddler found inside the home, physically unharmed but left orphaned.
Rachel Ozuna's grief-stricken relatives are making a plea to raise funds to help care for the surviving children and for funeral arrangements. A memorial fund has been created.
"Our families and community are completely devastated," her relatives in Utah wrote on the GoFundMe page. "No reason imaginable is reason enough for these 3 to meet their end the way they did."
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There is grief, too, among the middle school classmates of Kyrrus Ozuna. Jahkeysia Weir, 14, is struggling to understand why her classmate's life was cut short.
"He didn't deserve that," she said.
She said Kyrrus had just finished eighth grade at Thornburg Middle School and that peers have been sharing their grief and memories on social media.
"I wasn't really that close to him, but I've seen him in the hallway and I've had conversations with him," she said as she broke into tears.
Authorities said the investigation is still in the early stages. Spotsylvania County sheriff's investigators have spent the past two days collecting evidence, even searching the woods across the road.
"The scene itself is pretty involving," Lt. Charles Carey of the Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Department said the day the bodies were discovered.
Anyone who may have information about the case is asked to call the sheriff's office non-emergency line at 540-582-7115.
