Reuters
7:57 p.m. CDT, May 22, 2012

PORTLAND, Ore., May 22 (Reuters) - A mother and her three
young children were found dead in a burning house in Salem,
Oregon, on Tuesday and police said a man believed to be the
children's father, whose body was discovered elsewhere, was the
suspected killer.

The bodies of the woman and children were found by
firefighters after a neighbor noticed smoke billowing from a
house in Salem, about 50 miles south of Portland. Their names
and ages were not released.

"Evidence located at the scene indicated that the victims
died as a result of homicidal violence," the Salem Police
Department said in a statement.

Hours after the fire, a man was found dead in a vehicle in
the area of Cottage Grove, a small town about 80 miles south of
Salem, police said.

"This vehicle is associated with the person of interest in
this case, and at this time investigators believe this to be a
domestic related murder-suicide situation," the police statement
said.

Salem Police Lieutenant David Okada did not know if the
police had been called to the house in the past and declined to
provide any additional details. Autopsies will be conducted on
the five dead family members, police said.