Bodies of 3 missing kids, 1 woman recovered from Minn. lake

VADNAIS HEIGHTS, Minn. (AP) — The bodies of three young children and one woman have been recovered from a Minnesota lake, according to local news station FOX 9.

The chain of events began Friday morning when the children’s father was found dead at a mobile home park in the town of Maplewood, near Minneapolis. Police determined that the woman had left with the children, and a search began.

Maplewood Police Lt. Joe Steiner said the woman’s car was found near Vadnais Lake around 4 p.m. Friday. The shoes of the children were found on the shore.

A search of the lake found one child’s body Friday evening. A second body was found overnight.

Authorities believe all three children were under the age of 5.

“There’s nothing more tragic than the loss of young children,” Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher said at a news conference on Friday. He called the deaths a “likely triple homicide.”