5 Dead, Including 3 Children, After Suspected Murder-Suicide Inside Oregon Home By Ben Brachfeld

An Oregon couple and three children were found dead in what authorities believe was a murder-suicide.

Sheriff’s Deputies in Josephine County, Ore., responded to the home of Hannah Marie Behee, 42, on the morning of Monday, Aug. 11 after someone requested a welfare check on her when she “uncharacteristically” didn’t show up for work, the Oregon State Police wrote in a statement on Tuesday.

Authorities observed “suspicious conditions” around the premises of the residence on Hussey Lane in Pickett Creek, near Grants Pass in southwestern Oregon. Upon entering, sheriff’s deputies and state police officers discovered five deceased victims who all appeared to have been killed with a firearm, per the statement.

They included Hannah Behee and Chad Behee, 40, as well as three children: two boys, 11 and 9, and a 7-year-old girl.

Authorities believe Chad killed the other members of the household before taking his own life.

The State Police did not specify that the members of the household were a family, but The Oregonian identified Hannah and Chad as a couple who co-owned the property. Hannah’s cousin, meanwhile, said in a GoFundMe appeal that the three children were Hannah’s.

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The cousin, Michael Nadey, launched the fundraiser to help cover funeral costs. He wrote that the incident had left family and friends in “deep sorrow.”

“Hannah was a loving mother,” wrote Nadey. “And her children were full of life and promise.”