A mother and her 6-year-old son were found dead in Canyonlands National Park in Utah. Local law enforcement believes it was a murder-suicide.
Park rangers responded to a report of a car parked on a trail inside the park where it should not have been at around 8:15 a.m. local time Thursday and found the 6-year-old unresponsive inside, the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office said.
The rangers attempted to save his life and sent him to a hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
The rangers also found another individual outside the vehicle, confirmed to be the boy’s mother on Friday.
The boy’s father, husband to the deceased woman, had reported both of them missing from Colorado on Wednesday. The sheriff’s office said Friday that the deaths are being investigated as a murder and a suicide, respectively.
No cause of death was provided for either decedent. San Juan County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Colby Turk told KSL-TV that the woman showed signs of trauma, though he did not provide any further details.
The sheriff’s office said it was withholding the names of the deceased out of respect for the family.
“This is a heartbreaking tragedy, and our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with the family during this incredibly difficult time,” the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office said.
