mother and her two daughters found dead in suburban lake

According to chicago tribune.mother and her two children were found dead in a suburbanLake in the Hills home Tuesday in what officials said appears to be a murder-suicide.

The McHenry County coroner identified the dead Wednesday as Carla Lopez-Mejia, 27; her son Ezequiel Garcia, 11; and her daughter Ariana Garcia, 8. Coroner Anne Majewski said in a news release that the findings of murder-suicide were preliminary, pending further testing.

Simmons called the Garcia children "full of energy" and said they liked to play outside no matter the weather. She recalled that, after a recent snowfall, her daughter built an igloo with Ariana and Ezequiel, whom Simmons called "Izzy."

Simmons said she saw police outside the neighbors' town house Tuesday and later saw the children's father, as well as Lopez-Mejia's mother and brother, outside the home appearing distraught.