Homicide-suicide under investigation

John Althouse/The Daily News

Published: Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 16:08 PM.

Updated at 6:46 p.m.

Authorities are investigating what they say is a homicide-suicide discovered in the New River area of Jacksonville Tuesday afternoon.

Officers with the Jacksonville Police Department found two bodies in the home at 1405 Hargett St. after receiving a call at 12:36 p.m. Tuesday from a family member concerned about the welfare of a resident of the home, according to JPD. They received no response at the home and found the bodies upon entering.

Police have not indicated the respective causes of death nor when the deaths occurred. The names are being withheld pending notification of the family members, JPD stated in a press release.

A neighbor, who asked to not be identified, said she didn't hear anything out of the ordinary at the home on Hargett Street.

"I'd usually hear them come out of their house and get into their cars, but I didn't hear anything today," she said.

The neighbor, who lived next door, said a man and a woman lived in the duplex; however, officials have not confirmed if the residents were the two people found dead in the home.

Military affiliation, likewise, has not been confirmed. However, both vehicles at the residence bore red Camp Lejeune base decals, and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service is involved in the investigation.

The next door neighbor said that she spoke to the female resident in passing, but never really knew the couple.

"They tended to keep to themselves," she said. "I wish I would have gotten to know her better."

Bradford Maynard, a former Marine who lives a few doors down from the crime scene, said he was shocked when he heard what had happened just houses away from his.

"When you hear something like that, you don't believe it," he said.

Maynard said that while it is tragic to hear of something like this happening anywhere, it is especially tragic in a place like Jacksonville, a tight-knit military community where military personnel have help at their disposal to keep violent incidents like this from happening.

"This Marine over here, he has a whole chain of command…There is all kinds of outreach to utilize," he said.  "For him not to utilize it, or for life to be that heavy, it has to go through your head, 'Why Jacksonville?'

"I can't imagine other places that don't have Marines and don't have communities like this; the murder-suicide rates must be crazy."

Maynard said that it had been quiet up until now during the three months he's lived in the neighborhood.

"It has been a good neighborhood," he said. "Nothing ever out of the ordinary happens, no gunshots or craziness like that, no people running around."

Police are continuing to investigate the incident.

Contact Daily News Reporter Tabitha Clark at 910-219-8454 or Tabitha.Clark@jdnews.com. Follow her on Twitter at @TabithaLClark or friend her on Facebook.

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Updated at 5:08 p.m.

JPD removed crime scene tape from the residence around four hours after the bodies were found. Neighbors in the surrounding area are either not home or unwilling to speak to media about the incident.

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Authorities say a homicide-suicide is under investigation in the New River area.

At approximately 12:36 PM, Jacksonville Police Department received a call from a concerned individual  requesting a check of the welfare of their family member, according to JPD.

Upon arrival at the residence, located in the 1400 block of Hargett Street in the New River neighborhood, officers were unable to receive a response from anyone inside of the home. Upon entering, officers located the bodies of two people.

Authorities say the preliminary investigation has revealed that an apparent homicide-suicide took place at the residence.

Names of the victims are being withheld pending notification of family members.

"We appreciate the cooperation and assistance of the Naval Criminal Investigative Services", said Captain Billy Houston, who leads the agency's Investigative Services Division, via a Tuesday enws release.

The investigation remains open.

Stay with JDNews.com for more information.

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