By Katrin Weuster, Alexia Brinkschulte and Frank Schneider
Undertaker keep going into the white clinker apartment building at night. They bring out three bodies on gurneys. Two of them were still children! A father (35) is said to have killed his two daughters (5, 8) and their mother (37) in Herten (Recklinghausen district).
An acquaintance (29) of the woman had tried to reach her friend several times. Vain. She was so worried that she finally called the police. But even when the bell rang and knocked, nothing moved in the large apartment on the ground floor.
The fire brigade opened the door, and a few moments later the police who had arrived revealed the extent of a terrible tragedy. In the large living room of the apartment there is a large gray cuddly toy, children’s things are lying around. But no sound comes from the rooms. All residents lie dead in the bedroom.
Mother and her two girls are autopsied
When and how the mother and her two girls had to die is still unclear. Autopsies will clarify the details later today.
While forensic technicians secure clues, a feverish search for the father, who has disappeared, begins. Heavily armed police officers search the apartment building.
A mother and her two five and eight-year-old children have been found dead in their apartment in Herten, North Rhine-Westphalia Photo: Marc Gruber/7aktuell.de/dpa +++ dpa picture radio
Investigators were finally able to locate him via his mobile phone in the central accommodation facility (ZUE) in Marl. Several patrol cars immediately raced to the address and were able to arrest the suspected father a little later in the entrance area of the ZUE.
Police spokeswoman Ramona Hörst: “The man was found and arrested in the early hours of the morning.”
According to BILD information, the Turkish family has only recently lived together in Herten. Neighbors report that the mother and her children arrived a few days ago and moved into the rooms that had been converted into a fitter’s apartment.
The securing of evidence continued throughout the night, homicide officers are interviewing witnesses and investigating those close to the family. The motive is still unclear.