California Father Arrested After Allegedly Killing Daughter, 4 Others

Police have arrested a man in the grisly murders of five people, including three children, who were found dead inside a Modesto, California, home over the weekend.

Martin Martinez, 30, is accused of killing a his girlfriend, as well as his own daughter. All five victims are believed to be related, though they have not been identified by authorities.

However, a family member told CNN that Amanda Crews, a local doctor with the Stanislaus County Health System, and two of Crews’ daughters – Elizabeth Ripley and Rachel – were among the dead. Rachel was also the suspect’s daughter.

The five bodies were discovered on Saturday after someone called police and asked them to check on the home.

Martinez was identified as a “person of interest” in the case just hours later and was taken into custody on early Sunday morning in San Jose, CNN reports. “He’s been booked into the Santa Clara County Jail on suspicion of murder,” Modesto Police Department spokeswoman Heather Graves told the network.

She added: “It’s devastating, not only to the families of the victims and to the neighbors here as well, [but also] to our law enforcement community.”

Police have not released a motive for the killings. Martinez is being held without bail.