SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – Five-year-old twins were found dead Friday in a home in Sanford after a woman leapt to her death off the State Road 417 bridge over Lake Jesup near Oviedo, sheriff’s officials said.
Seminole County Sheriff Dennis M. Lemma said that it’s believed the double murder-suicide took place early Friday.
Deputies were called to the S.R. 417 bridge around 8:45 a.m. when a motorist spotted a car pulled over on the shoulder of the bridge and a woman sliding out of the passenger-side window before jumping into the water, said Lemma, who identified the woman as 31-year-old Catorreia Hutto.
Lemma said deputies spotted the woman floating in the water and summoned two nearby fishermen, one of whom happened to be an off-duty Seminole County firefighter, to recover the body.
The discovery prompted a well-being check at a home on Alexander Avenue off Airport Boulevard near HE Thomas Junior Parkway in Sanford, where the children, a boy and girl, were found dead in their bunk beds, according to Lemma, who said the causes of death will have to be determined by the medical examiner.
According to Lemma, a gun was found in the bedroom, but the children did not appear to be victims of gunfire and there are no signs of blunt-force trauma.
“If (the deputies) did not check the vital signs, they would not know that they had been deceased,” Lemma said. “So (the cause of death for each child is) unknown.”
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Lemma said the children had special needs but added that there were no signs of trouble with the family. He said Hutto had no criminal history and there were no calls to her current home, which was a Habitat for Humanity project completed about a year ago.
Lemma described the home as having little food or furniture, but he said it’s not known if Hutto, who worked at a temp agency, was struggling financially. He said she had been at work as early as a few days ago.
The twins last attended school on Oct. 13, Lemma said.
Hutto apparently tried to call her mother, who lives in Perry, Florida, but was in the Orlando area for a medical procedure, Thursday night, but her mother told authorities she missed the call and assumed it was one of the children playing with the phone because there was no message.
The father of the children, who lives in another part of Florida, has started an online fundraiser to help cover funeral expenses for the children. Click here if you would like to make a donation.
NOTE: Anyone who is struggling or knows someone who is struggling with thoughts of suicide, is urged to call the free 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Dial 998 or chat with someone any time of day at 988lifeline.org/chat.