Police suspect that six people identified as family members killed in their Chicago home were victims of a "targeted incident," according to the New York Daily News. They were found dead Thursday evening after police checked in following a call from a co-worker.
The victims, who have been identified as a Mexican couple and their adult son, daughter-in-law and two young grandchildren, all died of sharp-force or blunt-force injuries except for the older woman, who died of gunshot wounds. Their deaths were ruled as homicides on Friday, the Associated Press reported.
No motive for the attack has been identified yet, but police spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said Friday that it is possible that a member of the family "was involved in something that could have targeted them." Authorities stated during a news conference that there were no signs of forced entry and that the victims in question had not been bound or restrained during the incident, according to Reuters.
Police had called in to the property after receiving a call from one of the victim's co-workers informing authorities that they had not been to work in two days. After seeing a body through the window, police gained entry to the residence and discovered five other bodies in different parts of the house, ABC7 Chicago reported. It is believed that they were killed sometime between Tuesday and Wednesday.
The names of the victims are Noe Martinez Sr., 62, Rosaura Martinez, 58, Noe Martinez Jr., 38, Maria Herminia Martinez, 32, Leonardo Cruz, 13, and Alexis Cruz, 10. Neighbors called them a "calm, quiet family" with no known record of violence.
Family members of the victims have set up a crowdfunding campaign through GoFundMe to raise money to send the bodies to Mexico for the funerals "where they would've wished to be buried." At the time of writing, they had raised over $25,900, with any extra funds going towards burial costs.
