State police found four people dead Friday evening in what they described as a murder scene at a home in Frederick County.
The bodies of a man, woman, boy and girl - all believed to be related - were discovered about 5:40 p.m. in a home in the 300 block of Contour Road in Mount Airy, said Greg Shipley, a state police spokesman.
A friend who had not heard from the family in a few days went to the house to check on things Friday and saw a body through a window, then called 911, Shipley said. Police would not identify the victims.
"We don't know what we have here," said Shipley, who added that troopers had awaited a search warrant to re-enter the home.
Shipley said that police had determined there was "no further threat," but could not identify a suspect, motive or cause of death. He said he was unsure whether police had seen any weapons inside the home.
"Troopers who were inside say it obviously was a murder scene," said Shipley. "Each body sustained trauma," but he said it was not clear how the injuries were inflicted.
According to online tax records, the home, which is for sale, is owned by Charles L. and Jennifer A. Dalton, whom neighbors identified as the occupants. The home, a light blue split-level ranch, has three bedrooms and two bathrooms and was "just reduced" to $269,900, according to an online real estate listing. The listing also says the home is in a "private setting" adjacent to a park.
A Web site for the cabinet installation company Imagine Millwork identifies Chuck Dalton of Contour Road as the owner.
Neighbor Jan Gillespie identified the children as Chuck, about 13, and Emiline, about 7. She said the mother did not work outside the home, as far as she knew.
She said the children seemed happy and she had not seen any sign of trouble between the parents.
William Lester Whitefield, who has lived at a nearby home for 17 years, described the family as "sweet, kind people."
"The husband invited me to a breakfast," Whitefield said. "He was part of a group that got together from a church. I didn't know them real intimately. We did kind gestures for each other back and forth, put trash cans away, in a nice, neighborly way."
Whitefield said he often saw the children playing outside. The daughter often rode her bike and would greet Whitefield by saying, "Hello, neighbor."
"This is a very peaceful, quiet neighborhood," Whitefield said. "The only ruckus you hear on a Saturday around here is a weed eater or a kid playing with a ball. This is really sad."
Mount Airy, about 30 miles west of Baltimore, straddles the Frederick County-Carroll County line.
In April, a Frederick County man shot and killed his wife and three children before killing himself in their Middletown home.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
