BROCKTON, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts woman and her 9-year-old daughter were found hanged Friday in the basement of their home by police officers who later discovered what authorities called “written information” that’s being reviewed to see it if sheds light on what happened.
The bodies of Ariana Rosa-Soares, 32, and her daughter, Marley Soares, were found shortly before 10 a.m. in their home in Brockton, about 25 miles south of Boston, after a concerned family friend called police asking for assistance at the house, Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz said.
Cruz didn’t disclose the contents of the written information found at the scene and said it was too early to say whether the deaths were murders or a murder-suicide. He said the girl’s father was interviewed by state police, and it didn’t appear to be a case of domestic violence.
“It’s a terrible situation which we are going to get to the end of when we get all the information together,” Cruz said.
Rosa-Soares also had an 11-year-old daughter who wasn’t home when the bodies were found, authorities said.
Brockton and state police are investigating and medical examiners will be performing autopsies to try to determine the cause and manner of the deaths.
Jose Rosa, Rosa-Soares’ father, told The Boston Globe that he believed his daughter had a mental illness and that he was concerned about her ability to be a parent. He said he had sought help from the state Department of Children and Families.
“I tried to get help … to stop what happened now,” he told the paper. “I feel dead. I feel mad.”
No one answered the phone at the state agency late Friday afternoon. The voice mailbox for a DCF spokeswoman was full and would not accept messages.
Rosa-Soares moved from the island country of Cape Verde off the coast of Africa to the United States about a decade ago, her father said.
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