Georgia authorities have identified a man and three children found dead in a park early Wednesday morning in an apparent murder suicide.
The man was 56-year-old Jose Plasencia, and he was the ex-partner of the mother of the three children but not their father, WXIA reported. The children were identified as Arianny Rodriguez, 13; Carlos Rodriguez, 9; and Chadal Rodriguez, 11.
Plasencia was the father of a fourth child with the mother of the other three, police said. That child had been injured on Tuesday and needed medical attention. She went to the hospital with all four children, but agreed to let the other three children go with Plasencia for food while she stayed behind with the injured child.
Police said she was unable to contact him as the night went on.
As CrimeOnline reported, a Gwinnett County Police officer found a car parked on a walking trail at Lucky Shoals Park at about 1 a.m. Inside, the officer found the four bodies, all with gunshot wounds.
“It is tragic. Our officers are going to step aside and… do the job to the fullest and make sure that they investigate this as if it were any other homicide. And try to, at least, bring some conclusion to the families who may be involved,” Gwinnett County Police Sgt. Michele Phiera added.
