TYENDINAGA MOHAWK TERRITORY — Two men and a woman were found dead Thursday night inside a small white bungalow here, just metres from the town boundary with Deseronto .
Ontario Provincial Police spokeswoman Kristine Rae confirmed police a criminal investigation is underway into the circumstances surrounding the deaths, starting with post mortem examinations at Kingston hospital scheduled for Friday to determine the cause of death. Police said the cause of the deaths is listed only as suspicious until test results have been provided.
Police received a 911 call from the home around 10 p.m. Thursday, Rae said. The incident was reported Friday morning by OPP.
At the scene, officers found the bodies of two men, aged 45 and 42 and a woman aged 45.
Rae, speaking on behalf of the Tyendinaga Police Service, noted there was “no apparent cause” of death, which would suggest there wasn’t an incident involving a firearm.
Rae said Tyendinaga police are leading the investigation with assistance from nearby provincial police detachments.
Further details — such as the identity or relationships of those found in the bungalow — are expected to emerge once next of kin are notified and the cause of death is determined.
The home is located on the north side of Bayshore Road, only a few metres before the town boundary of Deseronto.
The property line around the home, which sits approximately 20 metres off the roadway, is wrapped in police tape and a marked OPP cruiser was blocked the driveway Friday morning.
At the time, parked in the driveway of the bungalow, was a white Chrysler minivan beside a motorized scooter typically used by the elderly or disabled.
Traffic crawled by the scene Friday morning as motorists looked in on the scene, some circling to make return passes of the house. A short distance away, a neighbour said his wife noticed police lights out the front window of the couple’s home around 10 p.m. Thursday.
“And then we heard on the news this morning there were people found dead inside,” he said, asking his name not be used. “It’s a little unnerving.”
Nearby, another resident said his phone had been ringing off the hook once news of the police presence spread.
“Everybody knows I live along this road, so they’ve been calling all morning,” he said through a crack in his door.
“From what I know, it was a couple that lived there ... I’m not sure if they were married or not, but certainly common law for a couple of years at least.
“I don’t know much more.”
The scene down the road was the topic of discussion for many residents of the Tyendinaga Elders Lodge, a senior’s home just west of the bungalow.
“It was all over breakfast, one of the only things they were talking about,” said one worker as she left after a night shift.
Calls coming into the home from concerned family and friends fueled speculation of what had occurred in the residence, said one resident.
“It’s all hearsay, so who knows what’s what?” the woman said. “But there are a few stories floating around about it.”