Police: Grandmother behind Ohio murder-suicide

Police say letters found after an Ohio murder-suicide that killed three children indicate it was orchestrated by their grandmother and uncle, who were found dead with the youngsters in the family garage amid a disagreement over who should care for them.

Toledo police say the bodies of the five were found Monday in a car, and they may have died of carbon monoxide poisoning. A truck was running with hoses leading from the exhaust into the car.

Firefighters found the bodies after using a sledgehammer to force open a barricaded door to the garage. Two dogs and a cat also died.

A family friend says the children's mother had asked their grandmother to care for them about three years ago, but had recently decided they should return home.

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) -- Three children, their uncle, and their grandmother were found dead inside a garage Monday in what appears to be a murder-suicide amid a custody dispute.

A truck was running with hoses leading from the exhaust into a car in the family's Toledo garage Monday. Inside the vehicle were the bodies of 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, police said.

Sandy Ford's husband, Randy, called police Monday afternoon to say that he had 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.

Firefighters used a sledgehammer to open a door to the garage, which had been barricaded shut. The bodies of the five people, two dogs and one cat were found inside the car.

Investigators believe they died of carbon monoxide poisoning. The five victims lived with Randy Ford in the house, located in a residential neighborhood close to the Michigan state line.

Sgt. Joe Heffernan says the children had been primarily living with their grandparents for the last four years, but their parents - the Fords' daughter, Mandy Hayes, and the children's father, Chris Hayes, were trying to regain full custody of them. He said Sandy Ford was upset about that, and he believes that was the motive for the murder-suicide.

Doug Hall, a neighbor who lives across the street, said he saw the Fords' son and kids raking leaves last week. He said the only unusual thing he's noticed was a police car at the house last Thursday. He said he didn't know why it was there.

Another neighbor said he saw the kids helping with the yard work and playing in the leaves just a few days ago.

"One minute they're doing the leaves, and then the next there are cop cars all over," Eric Pieper said.