Sheriff: Multiple Dead Bodies Found Inside Arizona Home

Investigators bring a body out of a home near south Gilbert where multiple bodies were found Tuesday, July 26, 2016.

A Maricopa County Sheriffs Deputy lets a crime scene van past the police tape outside a home where multiple bodies were found, Tuesday, July 26, 2016, in Gilbert, Ariz.

Officials believe the case to be a murder-suicide, but are awaiting autopsy results before they can make a final determination on the deaths.

Arpaio said in a press conference Tuesday, the bodies found in the home Monday night were a mother, her 17-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter.

Homicide detectives were at the house, in the 17700 block of East Prescott Place, on Tuesday, according to Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Courtney Palma.

Homes in the unincorporated area near Gilbert are surrounded by agricultural land.

“We’re leaving a little part open just in case someone else could have caused these three deaths”, Arpaio said.

Gerhart was devastated and horrified that her husband had moved out, neighbor Connie Rivere told the Arizona Republic (http://goo.gl/YBmz75 ).

Arpaio said sheriff’s deputies donned protective clothes before entering the property and quickly located the three bodies, all of whom had suffered gunshots, Arpaio said.

A handgun was found near the body of the mother, identified as Lisa Gerhart, 45, he said.

Gerhart and the victims’ father were separated and they are not believed to have any other children together, Arpaio said.

Calling it “a very unusual situation”, Arpaio said it was not yet clear what led to both the use of a gun and the carbon monoxide at the home.