BEND, Ore. -- A husband, wife and their 8-year-old son were found dead at a home near Sunriver Thursday, police said.
Joachim Steffan, 40, was found hanging outside the home, near a garage and his wife, Dagmar, 49, and son, pascal were dead inside. Detectives have not said exactly how the woman and boy died, but the sheriff's office said the case was being investigated as a homicide.
Deputies arrived to find Joachim hanging from a rope at the highest point of the barn-styled roof, according to Capt. Marc Mills. The wife and son were found inside the manufactured home, he said, declining to be more specific about the cause of death pending the medical examiner's office findings.
According to an interview with KTVZ in Bend, Mills would not speculate about it being an apparent murder-suicide or the nature of the crime, pending completion of evidence gathering by deputies, assisted by Oregon State Police, the OSP Crime Lab and the county District Attorney's Office.
The Medical Examiner's Office was also assisting investigators to determine the cause of death.
Mills assured area residents that they were not thought to be in danger.
