A man is believed to have killed his two young children and then himself at a remote beauty spot in a Father’s Day tragedy.
The three, who have not yet been named, were all found dead yesterday in a car parked in a deserted country lane. Both children were under the age of 10.
It is thought they died from carbon monoxide poisoning after the man attached a hosepipe to the exhaust and left the engine running.
Father’s day horror: Forensic officers investigate the discovery of a man’s body and that of and two children in dense woodland yesterday
The car would have filled with the lethal gas before they lost consciousness, passed into a coma and died.
Police are treating the deaths as suspicious but have said they are not looking for anyone else in connection with the inquiry.
A police source said: ‘It’s absolutely heartbreaking to think that these young children have been taken on a day out by their father on Father’s Day and were probably expecting to have a lovely time.
‘Instead he has chosen this, of all days, to kill his two children and himself. It is a dreadful, dreadful tragedy.
‘At present we are not 100 per cent sure on the cause of death but a post-mortem should confirm our belief that they died from carbon monoxide poisoning.’
Police seal off the isolated death scene
A passer-by found the bodies yesterday afternoon on a hillside road in the Conwy Valley, north Wales, near to where Mike Todd, chief constable of Greater Manchester Police, was found dead earlier this year.
It appears to mirror a tragedy five years ago when Keith Young, 38, killed himself and his four sons in Llangollen, north Wales by putting a petrol-fuelled lawnmower in the car.
Today, a worker from a bed and breakfast near to where the latest deaths, said: ‘The place where it happened is off one of the narrow roads crossing the country.
‘It’s in the middle of fields with only a few houses nearby, it’s very isolated. It is one of the prettiest parts of the country.
‘I am more sorry for the children. I think it is a selfish act taking the children away.’
Two police cars blocked the taped-off scene today, on a single track road a mile and a half up a hillside from the A470 in Maenan.
The Land Rover is believed to have been found in a passing spot on the road.
The tragedy happened in the picturesque Conwy Valley
Farmland surrounds the area and the nearest house is around 500 yards from the start of the police cordon.
Police believe the man must have been familiar with the area because the spot where he parked appeared to have been picked for its remoteness.
‘There is nothing around whatsoever. It is very quiet and it is our belief the person must have chosen it because of that,’ the source said.
‘It is obvious that whoever did this must have made a certain amount of plans before carrying it out.’
The Conwy Valley area of Snowdonia in North Wales. Police think the man picked the spot because it is so isolated
A full investigation has been launched and post-mortem examinations will be carried out today.
A spokeswoman for Cheshire police said the father and two children were from the Runcorn area of Cheshire.
She said: ‘They were reported missing by the mother of the two children who reported the two children and father as failing to return home after a day out.
‘This report was lodged with Cheshire police just before 11pm on the evening of Friday June 14.’
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