Six members of two apparently unrelated families were found dead in Aichi and Saitama prefectures on Tuesday and Wednesday, with local police investigating the deaths as suspected cases of murder and family suicide, respectively.

In the central prefecture of Aichi, three members of a family were found dead -- a 9-year-old girl and her 6-year-old brother inside a station wagon, and their 42-year-old mother in their home -- with murder suspected. Police are searching for the siblings' father.

In Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo, three members of the same family found dead in their home are suspected of having committed suicide, while a fourth family member, a son of high school age, is in hospital with serious wounds.

In the Aichi case, a police officer found the bodies of the children covered with blankets in the station wagon after responding to an emergency call from a passer-by around 5:20 p.m. Tuesday reporting that "a car was about to go off a cliff" in Inuyama. ...continue reading