MAJOR UPDATE:
SALT LAKE CITY - Four people were found dead on Sunday inside of a burned house in Kearns -- apparently the victims of a homicide.
The bodies were discovered Sunday afternoon in the neighborhood of 5500 West and 5700 South. Authorities were initially notified of a house fire at the address, but it turned into a murder investigation when fire crews found the bodies inside.
Officials say the bodies belong to a mother and 3 children -- and that they did not die as a result of the fire.
The woman's husband -- believed to be the father to the three children -- was not found at the home and his whereabouts are unknown. It is also unknown whether he is a suspect in the victims' deaths.
The cause of the fire and the cause of the four deaths were also not known. Speculation has considered the possibility that the four were killed in the home and the murderer set fire to the structure. However, that scenario has not been confirmed or mentioned by authorities.
The Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office is investigating the deaths as murders. The Questar gas company was also on the scene, perhaps to investigate the cause of the fire.
