A mother, father and daughter are believed to have been dead almost a month before they were found Saturday in their Minnesota home in an apparent murder-suicide.
Apple Valley police were called to the home at around 1 p.m. by a neighbor who peered though the window and saw three bodies lying on the floor near a handgun, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported.
Though investigators did not immediately identify the family, neighbors say they are 29-year-old David Crowley, his 28-year-old wife Komel and their 5-year-old daughter Rani.
Investigators are now trying to determine how long the bodies, described by police as "obviously deceased," were in the home on Ramsdell Drive. Their dog was found alive but was emaciated and in a very aggressive state, the newspaper reported.
The family could have died around Christmas, according to neighbor Collin Prochnow.
"I assumed they had gone somewhere for Christmas," Prochnow told the Pioneer Press.
He said he shoveled their driveway a couple of times, a task usually done by the Crowleys. Other residents began noticing the lights were continuously on day and night. Unopened packages remained outside the front door.
Finally, on Saturday, Prochnow walked over to the house and saw the bodies through the first-floor front window. Police have not released many details about the case but they believe it is a murder-suicide.
David Crowley, an army veteran, was a filmmaker working on a movie titled "Gray State." A YouTube trailer for the movie shows clashes between a police force and citizens in an apparent failed society.
His wife Komel was a registered dietitian who ran a business that helped treat eating disorders, autism and other conditions, according to the Star Tribune.
Social media images of Crowley show him posing with weapons inside his garage, however it's not clear if the weapons are real or just movie props.
Prochnow said Crowley cut his hair late last year and began wearing fatigues.
"We noticed the change in his appearance," Prochnow told the Star Tribune. "His personality didn't seem to change. We never got into any kind of politics."
