Ohio Murder-Suicide: Grandmother behind deaths of five people, police say

(CBS/AP) TOLEDO, Ohio - A  murder-suicide that left three children dead was orchestrated by their grandmother and uncle, whose bodies were found along with the youngsters in the garage of an Ohio home, police said Tuesday.

They say letters found at the scene revealed that the tragic incident occurred amid a disagreement over who should care for the children.

Firefighters on Monday used a sledgehammer to force open a barricaded door to the garage. This is where a truck was running with hoses leading from the exhaust in to the car that contained the bodies, police said.

The family members were identified as 54-year-old Sandy Ford, her 32-year-old son, Andy Ford, and her grandchildren, 10-year-old Paige Hayes, 6-year-old Logan Hayes and 5-year-old Madalyn Hayes.

Investigators said the relatives may have died of carbon monoxide poisoning. Two dogs and a cat also were found dead.

Until last week, the children had lived with Sandy Ford and her husband Randy at the house in a residential neighborhood close to the Michigan state line. Andy Ford also lived at the home.

Randy Ford called police Monday to say that he returned home and found suspicious notes in the house from his wife, son and grandkids. He said he wasn't able to enter the garage.

The barricaded door and the letters made it "very evident that it was a murder-suicide situation," Toledo police Sgt. Joe Heffernan said Tuesday. He wouldn't offer details about what was in the notes.

Police said Sandy Ford had been distressed about a change in who was to care for her grandchildren.

Children's services representatives and a family friend said the children's mother, Mandy Hayes, had asked their grandmother to care for them about three years ago but had recently decided they should return home.

The children moved back into their parents' home last week, upsetting Hayes' mother, said the friend, Cammie Turner.

"Mandy wasn't taking the kids away from her entirely," Turner said. "She wanted them home. It wasn't like she was taking them and grandma could never see them again."

While the children were living with their grandmother, Hayes and her husband saw them often and went on outings to parks and the zoo, Turner said.

Turner said she never saw any indication of a strained relationship between Hayes and her mother, and they never went to court over the issue of custody.

More on CrimesiderNovember 13, 2012 - Five people dead from carbon monoxide poisoning in apparent murder-suicide, Ohio police say