‘Person of interest’ related to discovery of 5 bodies in Modesto found

UPDATE, 6:25 a.m.: A man described as a “person of interest” related to the discovery of five bodies at a northeast Modesto home Saturday was located by San Jose police early Sunday morning, authorities said.

A Tweet sent out by Modesto police at about 2:06 a.m. read “Martin Martinez has been located by “@SanJose PD. The investigation is ongoing. No further details available.”

There was no information where the 30-year-old Martinez was located or if he was being detained, in custody or what his connection to the case is.

Attempts to reach Modesto police this morning for further details have been unsuccessful.

We will have more on this story later today.

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ORIGINAL STORY BELOW

The bodies of three children and two adults were found Saturday afternoon in a Northeast Modesto home; police are seeking help in finding a “person of interest” in relation to the incident.

Modesto Police public information officer Heather Graves said police are looking for Martin Martinez, 30, of Modesto, who drives a 2000 red Lincoln Navigator with the license plate number 7CNN611.

Police ask anyone with information about Martinez and his whereabouts to call 911.

There was no information about Martinez’s connection to the deceased or whether they were residents of the house.

Officers were called to do a security check at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in the 2600 block of Nob Hill Court in a Village One residential area near Floyd Avenue, between Oakdale Road and Roselle Avenue. When officers arrived, they found the five dead inside.

Police did not released information on the identities of the deceased.

“This is quite a large crime scene, especially with five deceased,” Graves said. “They’re still analyzing the scene and getting information.”

The court remained shut down Saturday evening with yellow police tape and onlookers watching as police worked. A California Department of Justice truck pulled onto the scene about 9:15 p.m.

Neighbors who live on Acapulco Way, one block South of Nob Hill Court which backs to the houses there, said they did not know which family was involved.

Most of the houses in the subdivision are four or five bedrooms and were built around 2006-2007.

Connie Lycan, 59, of Modesto who lives on Acapulco has lived in the neighborhood since it was constructed. She said it is a quiet neighborhood.

“We used to live on Carpenter Road but we came here because it is quiet,” she said. “Well it was quiet. No place is safe anymore.”

Aruna Rao, 47, also lives on Acapulco on the side that backs up Nob Hill Court. “It’s a community where most people know each other. It’s really scary something like this happening,” Rao said.

By 10:30 p.m., television news trucks and a crowd of onlookers remained along Lincoln Avenue – which feeds into Nob Hill – where yellow police tape kept people far from the investigation going on at the back of the cul-de-sac.

Graves said investigators would be on the scene well into the night.

This story was originally published July 18, 2015 at 6:18 PM with the headline "‘Person of interest’ related to discovery of 5 bodies in Modesto found."