3 people, including toddler, found dead from gunshots in Ohio home after 911 hang up, officials say

A man, a woman and a toddler were found dead with apparent gunshot wounds in a home in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, authorities said. 

The Tuscarawas County Sheriff's Office said in a news release on Facebook that a 67-year-old male, a 51-year-old female and a 22-month-old boy were found dead at a home on North Cherry Street in the Village of Gnadenhutten on Wednesday morning. They all appeared to have gunshot wounds, and a gun was found at the scene.

The three people were identified as 67-year-old Gale Sanders, 51-year-old Melissa Campbell and 22-month-old Kozzar Lotut, CBS affiliate WOIO reported. The sheriff told the news outlet that the adult victims were the boy's grandparents and he believes it was a murder-suicide. 

The sheriff's office said the 911 dispatch center received a 911 hang-up call around 4:15 a.m. on Wednesday. The phone call did not reveal a location because it was disconnected almost immediately, the sheriff's office said. 

Dispatchers tried to call back several times, and the sheriff's office said it appears a voice "softly" said "help" during one of the attempted call-backs to the phone. The sheriff's office said officials reached the phone's owner, who said it was a spare device he had loaned to an "associate." 

The phone was then tracked to the 200 block of North Cherry Street, according to the sheriff's office. A family member was located, and they unlocked the door and found the three people dead inside. 

Tuscarawas County Coroner Jeff Cameron will perform autopsies to determine the cause and manner of death.

"There are many people to interview and much to do with evidence from the scene but I feel strongly that the community is in no danger," the sheriff's office said. 

More information will be provided once "we are confident that we have gathered and verified all the necessary facts," according to the sheriff's office. 

Gnadenhutten is about 62 miles south of Akron.