MECHANIC FALLS, Maine — The identities of a woman and two children who were found dead last week at a home in Mechanic Falls were released Thursday.
Mechanic Falls Police Department officers were called to a home on Highland Avenue around 3:30 p.m. Saturday about a U-Haul truck that had not been returned and was reported stolen, according to a news release from the police department.
Police said the truck was found upon their arrival, but when an officer and an Androscoggin County Sheriff's Office deputy attempted to make contact with a resident of the home who rented the truck, she was found dead inside, police said. Two children were also found dead inside the home.
During the evening and throughout the night, detectives and evidence response technicians processed the scene, according to Maine Department of Public Safety spokesperson Shannon Moss.
The deceased were reportedly brought to the medical examiner's office in Augusta where autopsies were performed. The woman was identified as 37-year-old Jennifer Barney. The two girls were identified as 7-year-old Hope West and 11-year-old Harmony West. Police said their deaths were ruled as homicides. Barney's manner of death was tentatively ruled suicide, but an official ruling has yet to be released.
Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit is leading an ongoing investigation, police said.
An animal control officer responded and took the pets that were in the home until a next of kin can be reached and the pets' placement determined.
Moss said there is no danger to the public.