Norwich bodies: Everything we know so far about Costessey deaths of man, woman and 2 children

In Norwich, a quadruple tragedy occurred as two young girls, along with a 45-year-old man and a 36-year-old woman, were discovered dead in a house. On the morning of January 19th, at around 7:15 am, officers entered the home in Costessey after receiving a distress call from a local. Norwich Detective Chief Inspector Chris Burgess revealed that all four individuals, the two young girls, the man, and the woman, were members of the same family.

Police are trying to find the motive of the murder (Image via Unsplash)

Norwich residents expressed their distress upon hearing the news on Friday. An anonymous neighbor, sharing their sentiments, remarked,

“It’s very sad and we’re shocked. Nothing like this happens round here. It’s a very quiet neighbourhood.”

Norwich Detective Chief Inspector Chris Burgess also mentioned that the police had previous contact with the residents during a missing persons inquiry before Christmas.

However, no further details about the cause of their deaths have been disclosed by the police. Gary Blundell, a Lib Dem councilor of Norwich, reassured the public that there is "no danger to the public."

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Additional details of the Norwich tragedy

According to Sky News, it was reported that among the four deceased individuals, the man and two children resided at the address in Norwich. However, the woman was visiting and did not reside at the property. On the morning of January 19th, police, prompted by a call from a member of the public, forcibly entered the property. It was further confirmed that officers had attended the same property on December 14th of the previous year concerning a missing person inquiry.

Mr Burgess said,

"We are still working to understand the full circumstances which led to the deaths of these people, however at this time we believe this to be an isolated incident."

In Norwich, a police cordon has been established, and detectives from the Norfolk and Suffolk Major Investigation Team are spearheading the inquiries. Concurrently, Chris Burgess mentioned that forensic investigations are underway. Post-mortem examinations would be conducted to determine the cause of their deaths.

Detective Chief Inspector Chris Burgess mentioned that a knife had been retrieved from nearby woods. However, at this stage, it is not believed to be linked to the deaths. He assumes that this is an isolated crime and asks everyone not to panic in this situation.

"I would reassure the local community that we're doing everything we can to establish what happened at the address, I'm confident this is an isolated incident."

He added,

"I would urge people to be cautious around the information they share on social media, and between each other, we don't want false information getting out there because that can frustrate the inquiry and cause undue distress where it's not needed, so please rely on the information the police are sharing."

According to a Norwich resident of the concerned area, who spoke to the BBC, the police prevented people in the location from leaving their homes.

"The road has been sealed off with police tape and you can’t get down there. I spoke with the officers at the cordon and they said it was likely to be there for most of the day but they would not tell me anything more than that.”

Residents of Queen's Hills in Costessey, Norwich, characterize their community as a "friendly" and "close-knit" place, especially favored by families whose children attend the local school. Expressing her feelings, Michelle Lawrence, 45, who has been a resident of the estate since 2008 and operates a dog-walking business, shared that the incident has left her "deeply upset." She said,

"I left the estate at 8am to take my daughter to work and I saw all the police cars and the sirens and I was like oh God, what’s going on? I’m worried and concerned for the family, especially if it’s a family of four and if there’s children involved and they’re at that school and how devastating that’s going to be for all their friends."

Rachel, a neighborhood resident, expressed that the situation was particularly disheartening due to the involvement of children. She said,

"It’s just a complete shock for the estate. You don’t expect something like that to be happening in a place like this. Everyone’s quite close-knit around here and it’s a friendly place, a nice place to live so it’s shocking to hear there’s four bodies that have been found."

Daniel Seeley, a resident of the estate, conveyed to The Standard that he was "absolutely shocked" upon learning the news.

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At the time of writing, a cordon has been established at the property in Costessey, and the Norwich detectives are leading the investigation.