DETECTIVES believe the daughter of an expatriate Scots couple killed herself and her two young daughters at their home in Australia.
Aberdeenshire-born Hazel Glendinning discovered the bodies of her daughter Heather Glendinning and granddaughters Jane Cuzens, 12, and Jessica Cuzens, 10, at a house in Western Australia on Monday evening.
She alerted the police after finding the youngsters in the hallway and detectives quickly arrived at the property to find a crime scene described as one of the worst they had ever encountered.
A murder investigation was launched, but officers yesterday suggested that Ms Glendinning, 46, killed herself and her children. It is believed that the girls suffered extensive injuries.
Detective Inspector Dave Bryson, the officer in charge of Western Australia Police's Major Crime Squad, said that, while police remain open-minded, they are not looking for a killer.
He said: "As with all homicides, we remain open-minded, and as more evidence comes in we will look at it but, on the basis of the evidence we now have, we do not believe there is another party involved.
"At the end of the post-mortems we should have cause of death and we will then submit a full report to the coroner and he will then decide on the outcome of the investigation."
Tributes have been pouring in for the girls, including one from a surviving sister, Grace, 13, who lives in another town with a grandparent.
She wrote online: "Forever in my heart."
A friend also wrote: "These two girls were the most gorgeous girls you would ever come across. They always had a smile and they had their whole life and more ahead of them."
Another added: "No words can describe the latest news that we are hearing here. RIP Jane and Jessica. So tragic."
Ms Glendinning is believed to have been involved in a long-running legal dispute with her estranged husband and father of the children, Harley Cuzens.
She is understood to have demanded hundreds of thousands of dollars from him and his parents after being frozen out of the family business where she had worked.
Ms Glendinning's parents, Hazel and Tom, are both from Aberdeenshire. Mrs Glendinning grew up in Fraserburgh, while Mr Glendinning hails from Peterhead.
They emigrated to Australia in 1962 and now live in Port Denison, close to their daughter's home.
The village, a fishing port just outside Perth, has been shocked by the deaths – with many residents expressing their horror.
A friend of Ms Glendinning told reporters in Australia she was "visibly distressed" when she saw her on Monday.
The bodies have been flown to Perth for a post-mortem and the results are expected by the end of the week.
Police have already interviewed many friends and neighbours of the family but are appealing for more witnesses to come forward.
Inspector Bill Munnee said: "There are a lot of unanswered questions we need to answer; everybody wants to know why.
"We're appealing to witnesses who may have known the family, or have any information whatsoever, to call the police because there are a lot of unanswered questions that we would like to get to the bottom of and we need the help of the community."
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