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The body of a second child was recovered overnight by authorities who have been searching a lake in Minnesota since Friday afternoon, local officials said Saturday.
A rescue and recovery operation for a mother and her three children was initiated at the Vadnais Lake, just outside the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, Friday at about 4 p.m. following reports of a possible murder-suicide, according to Maplewood police.
The body of the first child was recovered on Friday afternoon, police said.
The Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office, which is one of various agencies assisting local police in the search, confirmed Saturday that the body of a second child was recovered at about midnight, KARE, NBC’s affiliate in Minneapolis, reported.
The search for the mother and a third child remains ongoing.
Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher said officials are treating the case at the lake as a “potential triple-homicide.”
Authorities said the search may be connected to a death investigation involving a possible suicide earlier in the day. Maplewood police said officers first responded to a call of a suicide Friday morning. At about 10:30 a.m., a man was found dead at his home. The man is thought to be the father of the three children, Lt. Joe Steiner said.
As they investigated the man’s death, information from family members led police to Vadnais Lake that afternoon for a potential murder-suicide, Steiner said.
Authorities found a vehicle and other items connected to the family at the lake, leading authorities to believe they are still in the area, he said.
A dive team, fire and EMS, cadaver dogs as well as other resources were on scene to assist with the search.
The three children are all thought to be under the age of 5.
Vadnais Lake is located in Vadnais Heights, about 7 miles north of St. Paul and 9 miles northwest of Maplewood.
Claire Cardona and Joe Studley contributed.
