DA identifies family of 5, including 3 children, found dead in Abington condo

ABINGTON, Mass. — Three children and two adults were found dead in an Abington condo Monday morning.

According to Plymouth County District Attorney Tim Cruz, police and emergency personnel responded to a home on Centre Avenue Monday morning where they found 40-year-old Deirdre Zaccardi, who was deceased. Officials then found three children; Alexis Zaccardi, 11, and Nathaniel and Kathryn Zaccardi, both 9, and 43-year-old Joseph Zaccardi.

Officials say the call came in around 7:30 a.m. when a relative showed up to the home to bring the children to school.

The DA says their deaths appear to be as a result of gunshot wounds. The Medical Examiner will determine the official cause of death.

While authorities said they’re investigating the case as a murder-suicide, investigators are not publicly commenting on who they believe pulled the trigger.

“This is just a horrible, horrible event,” Cruz said. “When something unimaginable like this happens there’s always gonna be more questions than there are going to be answers.”

Police say there has been no record of domestic issues at the home, but the DA says investigators are talking to other family members to see if they can shed some light on why this happened.

Related: Abington community coming together after tragic family deaths

"A crime occurred in that building and three little children are gone as a result of it. And if there were issues to be dealt with that need to be dealt with in a different manor," said Cruz.

Family members of the victims released a statement Monday saying, "Today our family has suffered an unfathomable loss. As we attempt to make sense of the enormity of this event, we respectfully ask that the media respect our family’s wishes to be left alone as we grieve our tremendous losses in private."

Grief counselors are being made available at the Abington schools the children attended.

Neighbors and family friends across the community are now wondering if there had been any warning signs that were missed.

"We hope the family has peace," said Terri Trunfio, owner of the Nancy Bradford Dance studio where the two girls took dance classes. "We think that’s best for them at this time that we allow them to grieve."

Those who knew the family say the father wrote children’s books but had been unemployed, while the mother worked as an office manager at a marketing company and was involved in the local school council.

"Just shocked, never would’ve thought something like this would happen right next door," said Heather McNulty, a neighbor. "Never heard much from them, didn’t see a lot of them all the time. [They were] really quiet, just a regular family."

The investigation is active and ongoing. Officials say this is an isolated incident and there is no threat to the public.

>> MORE: Plymouth man arrested for attempting to kidnap teenage girls, police say

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