Watch CBS News

Children Found Following Deaths Of Mother, Father

DENVER (CBS4) -- Two children reported missing following a suspicious death in Denver have been found safe. Their mother was found dead inside their home and their father's body was found inside a car in Douglas County.

Police issued an Amber Alert for the two children, 1 and 5, after their mother was found dead in a home.

"Because there were children that should have been in that home, we could not locate them, so ultimately we had concerns we did an Amber Alert," Sonny Jackson with Denver police said.

The woman, man and their two children all lived in the home in Green Valley Ranch. Police in Denver were called to the home in the 21000 block of East 46th Avenue about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday for a welfare check.

It is unclear how the woman died but investigators are calling her death suspicious.

"We go through the same steps every time to ensure this is a complete investigation. The homicide unit is here because it is a suspicious death and that's how we are investigating it at this time," said Denver Police Sgt. Steve Warneke.

An autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon to determine how the woman died.

The suspect police were looking for the children's father in connection with the suspicious death and the missing children. He was found dead south of Franktown after leading police on a chase into a crop field. When officers approached his car they heard single gunshot and found the man with a self-inflicted wound. He was later identified as 32-year-old Dominic Moore.

The children were found a short time later at an apartment in Aurora. It is unclear how the children arrived at that location.

amber-alert-body
Douglas County Sheriff's deputies investigate a body found inside a car early Wednesday morning. (credit: CBS)

Neighbors in the Green Valley Ranch neighborhood say they are surprised.

"They were always friendly people, just hi and bye, how are you? Never saw anything suspicious," a neighbor said.

Another neighbor says a few months ago police were at the couple's home, but everything seemed fine.

"It's a quiet neighborhood. Not much happens here to have something like this happen just across the street. it's kind of shocking," neighbor Paul Bakke said.

Another child, 15 years old, was thought to be missing and part of the Amber Alert but was staying out of town with relatives at the time.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.