5 and 7-Year-Old Siblings Among Family Members Found Dead in Minnesota Home; Police Continue to Seek Cause of Mysterious Deaths

Authorities have identified the family members found dead in a northern Minnesota home this weekend.

KVRR reports that authorities have identified all seven victims who were found dead in a Moorhead residence on Saturday night. The report indicates that the victims were related though they may not all have been part of the same nuclear family. Among the deceased are 7-year-old Mike Hernandez, 5-year-old Marbely Hernandez, 37-year-old Belin Hernandez, 34-year-old Marleny Pinto, 32-year-old Eldor Hernandez Castillo, and 19-year-old Mariela Guzman Pinto.

As CrimeOnline previously reported, relatives performing a welfare check on the family contacted police on Saturday evening after finding the victims unresponsive. Responding officers found all seven relatives dead of yet-unknown causes. According to multiple reports, there was no sign of forced entry or violence. Early reports indicated that three of the victims were children, though the identification of the decedents shows that one of the victims was a young adult of 19 years old.

Accord to Fox 9, a preliminary autopsy report has ruled out obvious trauma as a cause of death, and blood samples are now being analyzed. KVRR reports that a newspaper in Honduras has stated the family members may have died of carbon monoxide poisoning, but law enforcement officials in Minnesota have declined to confirm or deny that report. Citing news outlets in Honduras, KVRR reports that the deceased family members migrated to the United States from the Central American country and sent financial support to relatives there.

“The news was a bucket of cold water as they were the family’s livelihood,” a relative said in Spanish in an interview with the television station Hoy Mismo, the Grand Forks Herald reports.

This is a developing story. CrimeOnline will provide further updates when more information is available.

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