Four children's bodies found with woman
Pastor Dale Morgan
Four children's bodies found with woman*
Marshals serving eviction notice find 4 bodies
* Story Highlights
* Medical examiner trying to determine victims' identities and
causes of death
* Police are investigating the deaths as suspected homicides
* Bodies were at the home for about 2 weeks
* Victims appear to be between 5 and 18 years old, police say
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The deaths of four children whose bodies were
discovered Wednesday in a Washington home are being treated as suspected
homicides, but the remains are so badly decomposed, investigators can't
determine how the victims died, authorities said.
Authorities remove a body from a Washington house where four were found
dead Wednesday.
"Scientific tests will have to do the verification" of the victims'
identities and causes of death, said Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty.
The medical examiner is expected to provide some of those answers in 24
to 48 hours, Fenty said.
Police are questioning a woman in connection with the gruesome
discovery, according to Metropolitan Police.
The victims appear to be between 5 and 18 years old, Police Chief Cathy
Lanier said during a news conference in front of the two-story town home
in southeast Washington where the bodies were found.
Because of their advanced state of decomposition, it's "difficult to see
if there were any signs of trauma," Lanier said.
U.S. marshals found the bodies just after 10 a.m. when they went to the
town home to serve an eviction notice, she said. The woman whom police
are questioning answered the door when the marshals arrived, Lanier said.
It appears the bodies were at the home for two weeks, Fenty said. There
were no signs of forced entry at the house, he added.
The relationship of the victims was not clear. It was also unclear
whether the woman being questioned is related to the victims.
Councilman Marion Barry, the former Washington mayor who represents the
ward where the bodies were found, said he feels "somebody should have
known that these young people were not in school or someplace."