Three generations of the one family — twin two-year-old girls, their three-year-old sister, mother and grandmother — were found dead yesterday in a suburban Perth home.
Neighbours have identified the family members to news.com.au as mum Mara Quinn, children Charlotte, Alice and Beatrix, and grandmother Beverley Quinn.
A 24-year-old Bedford man has been charged with five counts of murder over the deaths.
The man surrendered himself to Karratha police station yesterday afternoon, a town more than 15 hours north of the Perth suburb of Bedford where the family was found.
A number of neighbours confirmed to news.com.au Ms Quinn was employed as a FIFO worker for a West Australian mining company.
Karratha, in the state's mining region of Pilbara, is a busy, temporary base for workers employed in the sector.
It's believed the man gave Karratha police officers information about the family, which led officers down in Perth to attend the Coode St home.
Police declined to explain what connection the man had to the victims and what he said to lead them to the scene but he is expected to appear in Karratha Local Court soon.
WA Police told news.com.au the man spent the night being interviewed by detectives and was assisting them with their inquiries. No charges have been laid yet.
According to WA Today, Mara Quinn, 47, lived in the Bedford home with her partner Anthony Harvey, who was 18 years her junior. The grandmother was 74.
In August 2014, Quinn took to social media to announce she was newly engaged.
Her first daughter was born around six months later.
A large section of the street and house were still cordoned off this morning with police forensic teams saying it would take them at least three days to investigate the scene.
The house is located on a busy road near a number of schools.
Early this morning, as kids hopped off their buses across the road from the home, they were herded away from the scene by police.
The house is less than 500m away from John Forrest Secondary College, Chisolm Catholic College and Hillcrest Primary School.
Distraught neighbours have spoken about the family and how they hadn't been seen in recent days.
The street, normally filled with the laughter of the three girls, has been eerily quiet.
Nearby neighbour Doug Roberston told news.com.au he often heard the girls playing.
"Who would want to hurt little children,?" Mr Robertson said. "I just don't understand it."
"I didn't see the kids but I could hear them playing. I just can't believe this has happened."
Alfie Campos, who lives behind the family's house, described the horrific situation as like living in "a bad dream".
"You wake up in the morning and it seems like some weird dream, but it is reality," Mr Campos told news.com.au. "It's just awful."
Mr Campos said the family were very warm and friendly.
"I would always see the kids playing and I would shout out hello to them," he said.
"The grandma was there every single day helping out and the dad had some lawn mowing
business and was always in and out.
"They have lived here for about four years and were always very friendly."
As police continue to comb through the scene for evidence, Mr Campos said he was planning a holiday to escape the tragedy.
"My son was going away and he told me to come along," he said. "I need to get away because it's all in my head now."
Another neighbour who lives across the road from the family said the kids were "happy".
"It's so, so sad," she told news.com.au.
"They were very happy kids. They used to wave at me a lot and I would wave back."
Neighbours also spoke about the grandmother, Beverley Quinn, who was often at her daughter's house helping out with the three girls.
"I think the mother was a FIFO worker so the grandmother was always over there helping," the neighbour said.
"I would see her gardening and helping with the kids. I'm just so shocked."
Next-door neighbour Richard Fairbrother told the ABC he'd been away and hadn't seen the family for more than a week.
"We've just been on a holiday and came back yesterday (Saturday) to silence in the street," Mr Fairbrother said.
"We noticed that the house next door was pretty quiet, which was unusual, being that they had the young kids.
"We had some friends staying here who have also mentioned that they didn't see or hear anybody next door for the week that we were away."
Mr Fairbrother said the three children played in the front and back yards so often he'd even warned his visitors about the noise.
"We had mentioned to our friends that were staying that there was likely to be some noise from the kids next door, and they were a little surprised that there wasn't noise from the kids next door," he said.
"We'd been around to their house once or twice, and vice versa. It's just terrible to hear, terrible."
Another neighbour told WA Today she didn't know the home's occupants personally, but would often wave and say hello as she walked past.
"It's taken us by complete shock," she said. "It's just horrific on every level."
Neighbour Vagner de Souza told the ABC he regularly saw a family in the house's yard.
"Just a normal family, you would never imagine anything like that happening," Mr de Souza said.
It's not known how long the bodies had been in the house.
Assistant commissioner Paul Steel said the West Australian home massacre, the third of its kind in less than four months, had hit the state hard.
"This is a tragic event and it will no doubt have an impact not only the family and friends of the deceased but for the whole of the community, those first responders who are faced with attending a scene with multiple deceased people," Mr Steel told reporters yesterday.
"It does send a ripple through the community of Western Australia."
He said specialist forensic police would investigate the scene, which was still at a "very early stage".
"We are three hours into this investigation, I have no further detail in relation to those who are present at the location," he said.
"There are no ongoing concerns for public safety as a result of this incident," a police spokeswoman said.
Forensic police have been at the house, combing over the scene, since yesterday afternoon.
A number of police cars, homicide squad officers and forensic police were at the house, blocking the road off at the Coode and Beaufort Street intersection for much of the night.
The incident comes just months after seven people were murdered at a home in Margaret River.
In May, a family was murdered on a rural property in Osmington, on the outskirts of the tourist town.
The deaths of Katrina Miles, her parents Cynda and Peter, and children Taye, Rylan, Arye and Kadyn, were described as Australia's worst mass shooting since the Port Arthur massacre.
And in July, less than a 30 minute drive from Bedford and yesterday's tragedy, a teenage boy allegedly killed his mother and two siblings in their Ellenbrook home.
Teancum Petersen-Crofts was charged with murdering his mother Michelle, his 15-year-old sister Bella and his eight-year-old brother Rua.
Ms Peterson and Rua were found dead inside their Brixton Crescent home and Bella managed to make it into the backyard of the house but later died of her injuries.
According to domestic violence group the Red Heart Campaign, the deaths of the Bedford family are the 52nd and 53rd women killed in Australia this year.
The three children are the 16th, 17th and 18th kids to die in 2018.