Five dead in an Ohio garage, including two dogs and a cat, is believed to have been triggered by an ongoing custody battle, according to reports.
The garage door had been barricaded closed from the inside, leaving police believe it was a suicide and not an intentional murder. A truck inside the garage was running with hoses leading from the exhaust into a car. Inside the car were two adults, three children, two dogs and one cat, all apparently dead from carbon monoxide poisoning. Using a sledgehammer, firefighters were able to break through the garage door and enter the horrifying crime scene within.
The five dead were identified as 54-year-old Sandy Ford; her 32-year-old son, Andy Ford; and her grandchildren, 10-year-old Paige Hayes, 6-year-old Logan Hayes and 5-year-old Madalyn Hayes, according to the Associated Press.
The victims lived with Sandy Ford's husband, Randy, in a house located in a residential neighborhood close to the Michigan state line.
Sgt. Joe Heffernan said Sandy Ford had primarily taken care of the children at her residence for the last four years, but their parents - the Fords' daughter, Mandy Hayes, and the children's father, Chris Hayes, were trying to regain full custody of them. He said Sandy Ford was upset about that, and he believes that was the motive for the murder-suicide, according to the report.
The children had been living with their grandparents and uncle since 2009. The three children have another sibling named Blake who was not one of the five found dead in the Ohio garage.
