Woman, Two Children Found Dead in Car in Hagerstown

Police and city officials in Hagerstown, Maryland, say a woman and her two children were found dead Monday in a car at a middle school parking lot.

An employee of Western Heights Middle School, leaving on the last day for teachers before summer break, spotted the bodies of a 32-year-old woman from Guyana and her daughters ages 6 months and 18 months about 4:40 p.m. Monday. 

All three were pronounced dead at the scene without apparent signs of violence, though police told News4 their deaths are suspicious.

Capt. Paul Kifer said the car was in park with the ignition off and windows up despite outside temperatures that had peaked near 90 degrees.

"I would say that nothing's off the table at this point," Hagerstown Police Chief Mark Holtzman said. 

"It's a very somber mood. This is not an easy one to work. There are professionals, but there's a human side to everything."

Investigators were reviewing surveillance video to determine when the car arrived, he said. Investigators said they found no evidence of foul play nor pill bottles in the car. The woman had no criminal history and no history of domestic incidents between her and the children's father.

Neither the woman nor the children had any known connection to the school in the city's West End, at least three miles from their rented home in the East End, Kifer said.

"It's a terrible loss to their family, I'm sure the family will be devastated," Hagerstown resident Sherry Moten said.

The victims have not been identified pending next of kin notification. The children's father lives in Hagerstown but didn't live with the mother and was never married to her, Kifer said.

Classes at Western Heights ended last week.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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